Ben Waber reviewed Capital and ideology by Thomas Piketty
A comprehensive book with a strong Western focus
4 stars
This is a massive tome on the complex interactions between economics and politics and how these interactions lead to different levels of inequality. Piketty provides a broad survey of economic concepts around inequality, as well as an in depth review of shifting political preferences.
The book shines when it's focused on historical trends, particularly the lasting impact of slavery and colonialism both economically and politically. It suffers a bit from an only cursory examination of countries that avoid many of the issues Piketty identifies, such as South Korea and Japan, and far too much time examining trends in France, the UK, and the US. Given Piketty's background this is understandable, but I would've liked those pages swapped for a deeper examination of other topics.
I really liked the shocking histories of Sweden, which went from being one of the most unequal countries of the world (allocating votes based …
This is a massive tome on the complex interactions between economics and politics and how these interactions lead to different levels of inequality. Piketty provides a broad survey of economic concepts around inequality, as well as an in depth review of shifting political preferences.
The book shines when it's focused on historical trends, particularly the lasting impact of slavery and colonialism both economically and politically. It suffers a bit from an only cursory examination of countries that avoid many of the issues Piketty identifies, such as South Korea and Japan, and far too much time examining trends in France, the UK, and the US. Given Piketty's background this is understandable, but I would've liked those pages swapped for a deeper examination of other topics.
I really liked the shocking histories of Sweden, which went from being one of the most unequal countries of the world (allocating votes based on land ownership, even giving votes to companies), and the extractive and unequal history of French colonialism in the Caribbean.
Still, Piketty succeeds in identifying the outsized influence of the power of capital and ideology in shaping how inequality develops. Rather than being an iron law of the universe, this book lays out an unassailable case for taking on inequality through ideological and policy changes.
This is a very macro focused book, and the few places where Piketty examines micro and corporate governance issues are fairly poor and uninformed, but thankfully those portions are only a small part of the book.
