A Brief History of Equality is a non-fiction book by the French economist Thomas Piketty translated by Steven Rendall from the original 2021 Une brève histoire de l'égalité,[1] about wealth redistribution,[2] in which Piketty describes why he is optimistic about the future.[3]
 Hardcover edition | |
| Author | Thomas Piketty |
|---|---|
| Original title | Une breve histoire de l'égalité |
| Translator | Steven Rendall |
| Subjects | Political economy, economic history, economic equality, macroeconomics |
| Publisher |
|
Publication date | 2021 |
Published in English | April 19, 2022 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 9780674273559 |
Overview edit
In this 288-page book targeting an audience of citizens, not economists, Piketty summarizes his two previous books, his 2014 696-page Capital in the Twenty-First Century[4] and his 2019 1150-page book Capital and Ideology.[5][6] In Capital, Piketty said that a possible remedy for inequality lay in a "global tax on wealth".[7] In A Brief History, he developed the concept of a progressive increase in the tax on the wealthy.[6]
Reviews edit
In her Financial Times' review, economist Diane Coyle said that in A Brief History, Piketty advocates for politico-economic change to reduce inequalities but does not describe practical solutions for achieving that goal.[8]
The Literary Review described the book as "an activist's history"—a manifesto as well as an overview of the past.[9]
In his review in the Wall Street Journal, Tunku Varadarajan, a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), said that he doubts that—without capitalism—the erosion of inequality and developments in economics and technology that Piketty described could have happened.[10]
While Piketty did not make predictions about the future, his work—which also includes his previous publications such as Capital in the Twenty-First Century—is "partly responsible" for the move away from the "hypercapitalism" of the twenty-first century, according to Columbia Journalism School's Nicholas Lemann in his New York Times review.[11]
Piketty condensed twenty years of his research into 300 pages with the goal of making it more accessible to a wider readership than Capital in the Twenty-First Century, according to Antoine Reverchon in his Le Monde book review. Reverchon said that Piketty's effort was worthwhile at a time when the left is mindlessly attempting to bring too many issues together under the same umbrella—"environmentalism, reformism, feminism, post-colonialism, anti-capitalism". Piketty calls for the state to increase access to quality health care, education, employment through the progressive implementation of taxation on the most wealthy. He also called for a "decommodification" of certain sectors that have become privatized including education, health, transport and energy. Piketty recognizes the real and historic fears of Soviet socialism and central planning—his socialism is participatory.[6]
References edit
- ^ Piketty, Thomas (2022). A Brief History of Equality. Belknap Press. p. 288. ISBN 9780674273559.
- ^ "Thomas Piketty Thinks America Is Primed for Wealth Redistribution". The New York Times. The Money Issue. April 3, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Eaton, George (March 23, 2022). "Why Thomas Piketty is optimistic about the left's future". New Statesman. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Piketty, Thomas (2014) [2013]. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Éditions du Seuil and Harvard University Press. p. 696. ISBN 978-0674430006.
- ^ Piketty, Thomas (2020) [2019]. Capital and Ideology. Éditions du Seuil and Harvard University Press. p. 1150. ISBN 978-2-02-133804-1.
- ^ a b c Reverchon, Antoine (September 3, 2021). "'Une brève histoire de l'égalité' ou comment poursuivre la réduction des inégalités". Le Monde. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ "Mind the Gap: Anthony Atkinson, the godfather of inequality research, on a growing problem", The Economist, 6 June 2015, retrieved 7 June 2015
- ^ Coyle, Diane (April 12, 2022). "A Brief History of Equality — the newly optimistic Thomas Piketty". Financial Times. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ McMahon, Darrin M. (April 3, 2022). "Darrin M McMahon - Tomorrow Belongs to Us". Literary Review. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Varadarajan, Tunku (April 8, 2022). "'A Brief History of Equality' Review: Flattening the Wealth Curve". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Lemann, Nicholas (April 19, 2022). "Thomas Piketty's Radical Plan to Redistribute Wealth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 22, 2022.