Christopher Croke writes review of Thomas Pickettys Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Christopher Croke, DPhil Candidate in International Relations at St Johns College, Oxford, has written a book review for The Australian (19 April). The book is Thomas Pickettys Capital in the Twenty-First Century, described by economist Paul Krugman as the most important economics book of the year and maybe of the decade.

Christopher writes, Pikettys thesis is straightforward. Armed with 200 years of taxation receipts and other economic indices from developed countries (mainly France, Britain and the US) he shows there is one economic law that approaches a constant: the rate of return on capital (r) is usually higher than the rate of economic growth (g). Through time, the return on capital (defined to mean basically any asset) is about 5 per cent and growth averages 1 per cent to 2 per cent. This means in the long run people who have capital are destined to get richer faster than the economy grows. Inequality is inevitable.

The full article can be read here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/on-the-path-to-inequality/story-fn9n8gph-1226889030439?nk=9b17780ac12fb9ff9ac68f52095d995a