Capital in the Twenty-First Century renews modern economic thought and its prospects in the same way that Karl Marx's eponymous work did in the nineteenth century. The twentieth century was initially marked by a reduction in inequalities. Wars caused an unprecedented redistribution of accumulated wealth. However, development in peacetime led to an increase in inequalities, as the return on capital is greater than the rate of economic growth. At the same time, a new phenomenon exacerbates inequalities: the irrational surge of elite managerial salaries. Furthermore, large fortunes ensure higher returns the larger the initial accumulation of wealth. The result is a continuous widening of inequalities, bringing our world back to the extreme point it was at before the outbreak of World War I. The principles of meritocracy and social justice are in retreat.

Piketty does not limit himself to scientific description but attempts a major political intervention. His response is articulated with combative clarity: international cooperation is needed to enforce a global tax on capital. This is an urgent necessity, as the rise in inequalities poses a direct threat to democracy. With acuity, a wealth of data, depth, and historical perspective, but above all with his clear view of the great invisible forces of the economy and history that shape the evolution of states and societies, Capital in the Twenty-First Century is the most imposing work of scientific research in the economic studies of our century, which began with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the creation of the first truly global capital market in history. Beyond this, however, Piketty revitalizes economics in its foundational roots: he reminds us of their unwavering connection to the field of social sciences and dispels the myth of the disconnection of economic analysis from politics.

Thomas Piketty was born in 1971 in Clichy (a suburb of Paris). He studied mathematics and economics at the École normale supérieure. In 1993, he obtained his doctorate in economics (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and London School of Economics). From 1993 to 1995, he taught at MIT and from 1995 to 2000, he was a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research in France (CNRS). In 2000, he was elected study director (professor) at EHESS, and in 2007, a professor at the École d’Économie de Paris – the new, particularly ambitious Economic University of Paris, founded in 2005 under the guidance of Thomas Piketty and Danièle Cohen, which merged economics departments from ENS, EHESS, Paris I University, École des Ponts et Chaussées, and INRA.

Thomas Piketty is a regular contributor to the newspaper Libération. In 2002, he was named France's best young economist (along with Philippe Martin) by the newspaper Le Monde and the Cercle des Économistes. In 2013, he was awarded the Yrjö Jahnsson Award from the European Economic Association, and in 2014, the Pétrarque Essay Award from France Culture - Le Monde for this book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which, particularly after its massive publishing success in the USA, drew global attention to his work. The same book also received the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year award in 2014. According to Paul Krugman, Capital in the Twenty-First Century "is the most important book of the year – perhaps of the decade. Piketty changed the economic language; we will never talk about wealth and inequality in the same way again."

With his work, Piketty has brought the concept of equality back to the center of economic science. Inequalities, as Piketty writes, must be limited, and the welfare state must be strengthened, because this is in the interest of democracy. And to this end, public policies for market regulation are required, as well as the use of taxation, especially on an international scale, as a tool for social cohesion and wealth redistribution.

From Polis Publications, his book The Economy of Inequalities is also available.