The Return of "Patrimonial Capitalism" : A Review of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty provides a unified theory of the functioning of the capitalist economy by linking theories of economic growth and functional and personal income distributions. It argues, based on the long-run historical data series, that the forces of economic d...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Milanovic, Branko
Format: Journal Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Economic Association 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20541
Description
Summary:Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty provides a unified theory of the functioning of the capitalist economy by linking theories of economic growth and functional and personal income distributions. It argues, based on the long-run historical data series, that the forces of economic divergence (including rising income inequality) tend to dominate in capitalism. It regards the twentieth century as an exception to this rule and proposes policies that would make capitalism sustainable in the twenty-first century.