Summary

Thomas Piketty begins the introduction to Capital in the Twenty-First Century with the question of wealth distribution. Wealth distribution is and has been a topic of discussion among economists going as far back as the eighteenth century, even though in many cases reliable economic data dates back only as far as the twentieth century.

Piketty traces the history of a few key figures who have shaped the discussion of wealth distribution over the past several centuries. He outlines the specific challenges they faced, the concepts they used, and the historical and social limitations on their thinking. In doing so, Piketty discusses the figures of Robert Malthus, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and Simon Kuznets.

For Malthus, writing in 1798, the discussion of wealth distribution responds to the threat of population growth, specifically when economic output can no longer keep pace to sustain outsized populations. Malthus fears...