Thomas Piketty

Thomas Piketty is a French economist whose research examines the historical distribution of income and wealth, inequality, and taxation. His book Capital in the Twenty-First Century brought these subjects to broad international attention.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century: A 2013 book by Thomas Piketty tracing wealth and income inequality across several centuries. This book presents the historical evidence and central argument most closely associated with Piketty.
Capital accumulation: The process by which savings and investment increase the stock of productive or income-generating assets. Accumulation expands the wealth base whose ownership Piketty tracks across generations.
Emmanuel Saez: A French-American economist known for research on top incomes, taxation, and inequality. Saez collaborated with Piketty on historical top-income data and proposals for progressive taxation.
Simon Kuznets: An American economist known for a theory linking economic development to a rise and later fall in inequality. Piketty challenges the expectation that development alone reliably reduces inequality.
r > g: A shorthand for the claim that the rate of return on capital can exceed the rate of economic growth. Piketty uses this relationship to explain how inherited wealth can gain ground against income from work.
Economic growth: An increase over time in the production of goods and services in an economy. Slow growth can make existing fortunes loom larger relative to newly produced income.
Gabriel Zucman: A French economist whose research examines wealth inequality, tax avoidance, and offshore wealth. Zucman has collaborated with Piketty on measuring global inequality and designing tax policies.
Kuznets curve: A proposed inverted-U relationship between economic development and income inequality. Piketty’s historical evidence questions whether inequality naturally declines as economies mature.
Wealth inequality: The unequal distribution of assets, such as property, financial holdings, and business ownership, among people or households. Piketty’s historical research focuses especially on how wealth becomes concentrated.
Inheritance: The transfer of property or wealth from deceased people to their heirs. Piketty examines how inherited assets can sustain wealth concentration across generations.

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