Thomas Piketty

World Inequality Report 2026 is the most authoritative and wide-ranging account available of global trends in inequality. Researched, compiled, and written by a team of world-leading economists, the report builds on the 2022 and 2018 editions to provide policy makers and scholars everywhere up-to-date information about an ever-broader range of countries and about forms of inequality that researchers have previously ignored or found hard to trace. Inequality has increasingly taken center stage in public debate as the wealthiest people in most parts of the world have seen their share of the economy soar relative to that of others. The resulting political and social pressures have posed harsh new challenges for governments and created a pressing demand for reliable data. The World Inequality Lab, housed at the Paris School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley, has answered this call by coordinating research into the latest trends in the accumulation and distribution of income and wealth on every continent. This new report not only provides up-to-date information about the history of inequality as well as inequalities across regions, climate, gender and tax, but it also offers comprehensive new analysis of privilege and unequal exchange in the global financial system and examines the impact of inequality on political behavior. World Inequality Report 2026 will be a key document for anyone concerned about one of the most imperative and contentious subjects in contemporary politics and economics.

This book is a major new history of capitalism which takes account of the material and ecological underpinnings of productive activity as well as the social, political and institutional dimensions of economic life. It retraces the history of capitalism over a long time period, giving particular attention to role of food, agriculture, energy and natural resources and with an eye to the future, mindful of the need to find solutions to an ecological crisis that threatens to overwhelm us. Alessandro Stanziani shows that the development of capitalism since the 12th century has been based on two primary forms of exploitation: the exploitation of labour, often coerced, and the exploitation of what he calls ‘Earth capital’, by which he means both the planet as a whole and its land and natural resources as factors of production. While these two forms of exploitation have gone hand-in-hand, the emphasis has shifted over time: forced labour gradually declined in importance from 1870 on and the exploitation of land, fossil fuels and natural resources grew at an unprecedented rate from 1870 to the present, the destructive consequences of which are becoming increasingly apparent today. Looking to the future, Stanziani argues that in order to deal with the immense challenges we now face, we must be prepared radically to rethink our economic and political systems. He proposes a new social contract that would make democracy, social equality and the environment the three pillars of the world of tomorrow.

An acclaimed economist’s observations on four years of events that have shaped the world In this new volume drawn from his columns for the French newspaper Le Monde, renowned economist Thomas Piketty takes measure of the world since 2021: leaders grappling with the aftershocks of a global pandemic; politics shifting rightward in Europe and America; and wars breaking out and escalating, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. Together with an extended introductory essay arguing that an ecological socialism remains the best hope for global equality, these articles present Piketty’s vivid first draft of history—on the rise of China, political upheaval, armed conflict, inequity within and between nations, discrimination, and beyond. Despite the gathering clouds, Piketty continues to find reasons for hope.

A pioneering history of voting and inequality, drawing on an unprecedented data set covering more than two centuries of sociological findings.Who votes for whom and why? Julia Cagé and Thomas Piketty comb through more than two hundred years of data from some 36,000 French municipalities to show how inequality has shaped the formation of political coalitions, with stark consequences for economic and political development.Cagé and Piketty argue that today’s tripartite division of French political life—a competition among a bourgeois central bloc and distinct factions of the urban and rural working classes—has a precise, and revealing, historical analogue. To understand contemporary tensions, we can look to the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, another period when runaway economic inequality produced such a three-way rivalry. Cagé and Piketty show that tripartition has always been unstable, whereas the binary political conflict enabled by relative equality and typical of most of the twentieth century facilitated social and economic progress. Comparing these configurations over time helps us envisage possible trajectories for the French political system in the coming decades.With its many changes in governmental structure since 1789, France is an ideal laboratory for studying the vicissitudes of modern political life in general, and electoral democracy in particular. Using France as a model, A History of Political Conflict offers a powerful framework for understanding the complex project of building and sustaining democratic majorities.

Dos de los pensadores m s influyentes de la actualidad reflexionan en este fascinante di logo sobre el valor de la igualdad en todos los mbitos. Thomas Piketty y Michael J. Sandel abordan aqu temas que abarcan la econom a, la filosof a y la historia, y valoran cu nto hemos avanzado en la lucha por lograr una mayor igualdad entre las personas de todo el mundo. Al mismo tiempo, afrontan las profundas divisiones que a n persisten a causa de la desigual riqueza, el mal uso del poder y el deseo de estatus y muestran tanto sus acuerdos como sus discrepancias. Este di logo nos permite vislumbrar nuevas posibilidades para el cambio y la justicia sociales, pero tambi n es un recordatorio de que el lento progreso hacia una mayor igualdad para todos nunca llega sin un profundo conflicto social y la lucha pol tica. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION In this compelling dialogue, two of the world's most influential thinkers reflect on the value of equality and debate what citizens and governments should do to narrow the gaps that separate us. Ranging across economics, philosophy, history, and current affairs, Thomas Piketty and Michael Sandel consider how far we have come in achieving greater equality. At the same time, they confront head-on the extreme divides that remain in wealth, income, power, and status nationally and globally. What can be done at a time of deep political instability and environmental crisis? Piketty and Sandel agree on much: more inclusive investment in health and education, higher progressive taxation, curbing the political power of the rich and the overreach of markets. But how far and how fast can we push? Should we prioritize material or social change? What are the prospects for any change at all with nationalist forces resurgent? How should the left relate to values like patriotism and local solidarity where they collide with the challenges of mass migration and global climate change? To see Piketty and Sandel grapple with these and other problems is to glimpse new possibilities for change and justice but also the stubborn truth that progress towards greater equality never comes quickly or without deep social conflict and political struggle.

Den världsberömda franska ekonomen Thomas Piketty ger här en lättillgänglig sammanfattning av sin omfattande forskning om hur ojämlikheter uppstår och befästs. Genom att studera faktorer som utbildning, arv, beskattning av förmögenhet, ojämlikhet mellan könen och klimathotets ekonomi utmanar han varje föreställning om att ojämlikhet skulle vara en naturlig och oundviklig företeelse och visar att vägen mot jämlikhet alltid går genom politiskt och socialt arbete. Thomas Piketty, född 1971, är en fransk nationalekonom och författare, verksam vid både franska och internationella universitet. Hans banbrytande studier har haft avgörande betydelse för förståelsen av såväl svårtolkade historiska processer som samtida tillkortakommanden."Det är en perfekt och pedagogisk sammanfattning av hans banbrytande historiska forskning. Även ett klokt försvarstal för välfärdsstaten. Den förhatliga tanken att ökad jämlikhet och utbildning också driver fram tekniska, ekonomiska och kulturella framsteg." Jan Eklund, DN."Det är en lågoddsare att Piketty inom de närmaste tio åren kommer att tilldelas Ekonomipriset till Alfred Nobels minne. För den som inte har läst en sida Piketty är det här är en nätt och enkel introduktion, som gör en insatt i hans tankar och teorier innan prisutdelningen äger rum." Lovisa Broström, GP.

In this compelling dialogue, two of the world’s most influential thinkers reflect on the value of equality and debate what citizens and governments should do to narrow the gaps that separate us. Ranging across economics, philosophy, history, and current affairs, Thomas Piketty and Michael Sandel consider how far we have come in achieving greater equality. At the same time, they confront head-on the extreme divides that remain in wealth, income, power, and status nationally and globally. What can be done at a time of deep political instability and environmental crisis? Piketty and Sandel agree on much: more inclusive investment in health and education, higher progressive taxation, curbing the political power of the rich and the overreach of markets. But how far and how fast can we push? Should we prioritize material or social change? What are the prospects for any change at all with nationalist forces resurgent? How should the left relate to values like patriotism and local solidarity where they collide with the challenges of mass migration and global climate change? To see Piketty and Sandel grapple with these and other problems is to glimpse new possibilities for change and justice but also the stubborn truth that progress towards greater equality never comes quickly or without deep social conflict and political struggle.

Thomas Piketty’s powerful and bestselling Capital and Ideology is now available in this accessible and richly illustrated full-color graphic novel format. Praised by Piketty himself as a “magnificent adaptation” of his original book, this graphic novel adaptation is perfect for anyone looking to understand the wealth gap and why society is the way it is today. Claire Alet and Benjamin Adam make the original work’s ideas more accessible through the addition of a family saga. Jules, the main character, is born at the end of the 19th century. He is a person of private means, a privileged figure representative of a profoundly unequal society obsessed with property. He, his family circle, and his descendants will experience the evolution of wealth and society. Eight generations of his family serve as a connecting thread running through the book, all the way up to Léa, a young woman today, who discovers the family secret at the root of their inheritance. The book concludes with six compelling proposals for participatory socialism in the 21st century. Friendly and approachable illustrations by cartoonist and children’s book author Benjamin Adam are easy to understand without diluting the subject matter. The material is adapted expertly by Claire Alet, a former journalist at Alternatives Economiques.

Socialdemokratin går mot ett avgörande vägskäl när den nyliberala eran närmar sig sitt slut. Att ensam fortsätta försvara åtstramningspolitiken efter att högern övergett den i spåren av kostnadskrisen ter sig osannolikt. Men vad är alternativet? I den här boken bygger tio socialdemokrater ett fundament för hur en välståndsskapande ekonomisk politik skulle kunna se ut, där människan sätts i centrum. Genom attkombinera ekonomisk analys med praktiska policyförslag visar författarna hur vi kan skapa ett samhälle där alla har möjlighet att utvecklas och bidra. Nationens välstånd visar att framtiden är vår att skapa. En politik där människan sätts i centrum är möjlig. Samhället är trots allt människans verk.

A Guardian book to look out for in 2024 An insightful exploration of the nature of inequality by the internationally bestselling author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century. In his newest work, Thomas Piketty explores how social inequality manifests itself very differently depending on the society and epoch in which it arises. History and culture play a central role, inequality being strongly linked to various socio-economic, political, civilisational, and religious developments. So it is culture in the broadest sense that makes it possible to explain the diversity, extent, and structure of the social inequality that we observe every day. Piketty briefly and concisely presents a lively synthesis of his work, taking up such diverse topics as education, inheritance, taxes, and the climate crisis, and provides exciting food for thought for a highly topical debate: Does natural inequality exist?

"The most important economics book of the year―and maybe of the decade." --Paul Krugman, New York Times, on Capital in the Twenty-First Century A bestselling economist's history of inequality and guide to a more just, sustainable world, distilled into an engaging and accessible pocket-sized text. In this unique work, Thomas Piketty presents a synthesis of his historical and comparative research on inequality. He challenges the idea that there could be natural inequalities and shows that the march toward equality has always depended on political and social struggles, addressing diverse topics such as: education, inheritance, the climate crisis, the taxation of wealth, and gender disparities. Adapted from Piketty's 2022 lecture at the Mus e du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Nature, Culture, and Inequality makes his important argument available to a wider audience for the first time. With a clear, conversational tone, he provides a strong foundation of data and concrete examples of how we can continue to level the playing field.