The Economics of Inequality

French economist and best-selling author Piketty (economics, Paris Sch. of Economics; Capital in the Twenty-First Century) first wrote this short book on economic inequality in 1997. In it, he examines the ways such inequality can be measured: the disproportion between capital and labor, and of income from labor, and the tools available to lessen such imbalance. Much of his discussion centers on France, but he pulls in data and examples from other countries, particularly the United States. Piketty concedes that although the work has been updated, it is still essentially a representation of the data available in 1997. Few of the cited references are later than the mid 1990s. Nonetheless, the author's insightful examination of topics such as employer discrimination, unions, and minimum wage laws are pertinent today. Though the author's style is not overly technical, it is academic in tone, and some background in economics would be helpful for full understanding.