Jim DiEugenio — Piketty's Exploration of Modern Capital

Probably no economics book since Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine has generated so much controversy or interest as French economist Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century, with the debate extending downward into the general public. 

At the restaurant where I was reading it, a man turned around and said, “Had to wait two weeks for it. I just got it three days ago. It really shows how the system is skewed against us.”

And that comment reveals the great appeal of the book because Piketty’s prime interest as an economist — perhaps his obsessive interest — is the subject of the inequality in the distribution of wealth, i.e., “how the system is skewed against us.” His book is, to my knowledge, the largest and most thorough compendium on the subject.

Piketty's book probably didn't change as many minds as it gave people permission to talk about the unmentionable. His work (and that of his colleagues) validates what a lot of people knew already but didn't feel it was politically correct to say it. Now that's its OK to talk about it, everyone is.

Truthout
Piketty's Exploration of Modern Capital
Jim DiEugenio, Consortium News | Book Review