-
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $39.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Capital and Ideology
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 48 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Piketty’s best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century galvanized global debate about inequality. In this audacious follow-up, Piketty challenges us to revolutionize how we think about politics, ideology, and history. He exposes the ideas that have sustained inequality for the past millennium, reveals why the shallow politics of right and left are failing us today, and outlines the structure of a fairer economic system.
-
-
Big thinking at its finest
- By Amazon Customer on 03-20-20
By: Thomas Piketty, and others
-
A Brief History of Equality
- By: Thomas Piketty
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world’s leading economist of inequality presents a short but sweeping and surprisingly optimistic history of human progress toward equality despite crises, disasters, and backsliding, a perfect introduction to the ideas developed in his monumental earlier books.
-
-
Important call to action
- By Stephen R Frum on 07-24-22
By: Thomas Piketty
-
The Deep Learning Revolution
- By: Terrence J. Sejnowski
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The deep-learning revolution has brought us driverless cars, the greatly improved Google Translate, fluent conversations with Siri and Alexa, and enormous profits from automated trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Deep-learning networks can play poker better than professional poker players and defeat a world champion at Go. In this book, Terry Sejnowski explains how deep learning went from being an arcane academic field to a disruptive technology in the information economy.
-
-
An epic story of astronomical import
- By Matthew Duncan on 02-25-19
-
The Federalist Papers (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by Thomas Jefferson as "the best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written," The Federalist Papers is a collection of 85 essays published by Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay from 1787 to 1788, as a means to persuade the public to ratify the Constitution of the United States. With nearly two-thirds of the essays written by Hamilton, this enduring classic is perfect for modern audiences passionate about his work or seeking a deeper understanding of one of the most important documents in US history.
-
-
I must for everyone who slept through history class
- By Claire Bassett on 06-23-19
By: Alexander Hamilton, and others
-
The Marshmallow Test
- Mastering Self-Control
- By: Walter Mischel
- Narrated by: Alan Alda
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Marshmallow Test, Mischel explains how self-control can be mastered and applied to challenges in everyday life - from weight control to quitting smoking, overcoming heartbreak, making major decisions, and planning for retirement. With profound implications for the choices we make in parenting, education, public policy and self-care, The Marshmallow Test will change the way you think about who we are and what we can be.
-
-
Not a sweet solution pill, but still can be swallowed.
- By ealtan on 02-17-15
By: Walter Mischel
-
Alan Turing: The Enigma
- By: Andrew Hodges
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades--all before his suicide at age forty-one. This classic biography of the founder of computer science, reissued on the centenary of his birth with a substantial new preface by the author, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life.
-
-
Very technical but informative and well performed
- By Pieter Reyneke on 04-24-15
By: Andrew Hodges
-
Capital and Ideology
- By: Thomas Piketty, Arthur Goldhammer - translator
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 48 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Piketty’s best-selling Capital in the Twenty-First Century galvanized global debate about inequality. In this audacious follow-up, Piketty challenges us to revolutionize how we think about politics, ideology, and history. He exposes the ideas that have sustained inequality for the past millennium, reveals why the shallow politics of right and left are failing us today, and outlines the structure of a fairer economic system.
-
-
Big thinking at its finest
- By Amazon Customer on 03-20-20
By: Thomas Piketty, and others
-
A Brief History of Equality
- By: Thomas Piketty
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world’s leading economist of inequality presents a short but sweeping and surprisingly optimistic history of human progress toward equality despite crises, disasters, and backsliding, a perfect introduction to the ideas developed in his monumental earlier books.
-
-
Important call to action
- By Stephen R Frum on 07-24-22
By: Thomas Piketty
-
The Deep Learning Revolution
- By: Terrence J. Sejnowski
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The deep-learning revolution has brought us driverless cars, the greatly improved Google Translate, fluent conversations with Siri and Alexa, and enormous profits from automated trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Deep-learning networks can play poker better than professional poker players and defeat a world champion at Go. In this book, Terry Sejnowski explains how deep learning went from being an arcane academic field to a disruptive technology in the information economy.
-
-
An epic story of astronomical import
- By Matthew Duncan on 02-25-19
-
The Federalist Papers (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hailed by Thomas Jefferson as "the best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written," The Federalist Papers is a collection of 85 essays published by Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay from 1787 to 1788, as a means to persuade the public to ratify the Constitution of the United States. With nearly two-thirds of the essays written by Hamilton, this enduring classic is perfect for modern audiences passionate about his work or seeking a deeper understanding of one of the most important documents in US history.
-
-
I must for everyone who slept through history class
- By Claire Bassett on 06-23-19
By: Alexander Hamilton, and others
-
The Marshmallow Test
- Mastering Self-Control
- By: Walter Mischel
- Narrated by: Alan Alda
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Marshmallow Test, Mischel explains how self-control can be mastered and applied to challenges in everyday life - from weight control to quitting smoking, overcoming heartbreak, making major decisions, and planning for retirement. With profound implications for the choices we make in parenting, education, public policy and self-care, The Marshmallow Test will change the way you think about who we are and what we can be.
-
-
Not a sweet solution pill, but still can be swallowed.
- By ealtan on 02-17-15
By: Walter Mischel
-
Alan Turing: The Enigma
- By: Andrew Hodges
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades--all before his suicide at age forty-one. This classic biography of the founder of computer science, reissued on the centenary of his birth with a substantial new preface by the author, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life.
-
-
Very technical but informative and well performed
- By Pieter Reyneke on 04-24-15
By: Andrew Hodges
-
The Cave and the Light
- Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.
-
-
This is a great book
- By Gary on 04-25-14
By: Arthur Herman
-
Time for Socialism
- Dispatches from a World on Fire, 2016-2021
- By: Thomas Piketty
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the past four years, world-renowned economist Thomas Piketty documented his close observations on current events through a regular column in the French newspaper Le Monde. His pen captured the rise and fall of Trump, the drama of Brexit, Macron’s ascendance to the French presidency, the unfolding of a global pandemic, and much else besides, always through the lens of Piketty’s fight for a more equitable world. This collection brings together those articles.
-
-
Great book. Lots of data
- By Amazon Customer on 03-20-22
By: Thomas Piketty
-
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
- By: Thomas S. Kuhn
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were - and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book.
-
-
Great book but a hard listen.
- By Jonathan on 04-09-12
By: Thomas S. Kuhn
-
The Soil Will Save Us
- How Scientists, Farmers, and Ranchers Are Tending the Soil to Reverse Global Warming
- By: Kristin Ohlson
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Soil Will Save Us, journalist and bestselling author Kristin Ohlson makes an elegantly argued, passionate case for "our great green hope"—a way in which we can not only heal the land but also turn atmospheric carbon into beneficial soil carbon—and potentially reverse global warming. Her discoveries and vivid storytelling will revolutionize the way we think about our food, our landscapes, our plants, and our relationship to Earth.
-
-
Superb science, storytelling, and narration voice
- By Michael Dowd on 09-20-14
By: Kristin Ohlson
-
The Precipice
- Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity
- By: Toby Ord
- Narrated by: Toby Ord
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This urgent and eye-opening book makes the case that protecting humanity's future is the central challenge of our time. If all goes well, human history is just beginning. Our species could survive for billions of years - enough time to end disease, poverty, and injustice, and to flourish in ways unimaginable today. But this vast future is at risk. With the advent of nuclear weapons, humanity entered a new age, where we face existential catastrophes - those from which we could never come back.
-
-
The 80000hours website is better
- By Cristi on 08-06-20
By: Toby Ord
-
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order
- Why Nations Succeed or Fail
- By: Ray Dalio
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Ray Dalio
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the number-one New York Times best seller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes - and to offer practical advice on how to navigate them well.
-
-
Ray Dalio, Chinas New Minister of Propoganda
- By Dudley on 01-04-22
By: Ray Dalio
-
Why Nations Fail
- The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
- By: Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?
-
-
Important themes, with blind spots
- By Ryan on 09-01-12
By: Daron Acemoglu, and others
-
Saving Capitalism
- For the Many, Not the Few
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Robert B. Reich
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Saving Capitalism, Robert Reich reveals the entrenched cycles of power and influence that have damaged American capitalism, perpetuating a new oligarchy in which the 1 percent get ever richer and the rest - middle and working class alike - lose ever more economic agency, making for the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity since World War II.
-
-
A riveting economics book! Mind. Blown.
- By Nothing really matters on 04-18-16
By: Robert B. Reich
-
Economics in One Lesson
- By: Henry Hazlitt
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Called by H.L. Mencken, "one of the few economists in history who could really write," Henry Hazlitt achieved lasting fame for his brilliant but concise work. In it, he explains basic truths about economics and the economic fallacies responsible for unemployment, inflation, high taxes, and recession.
-
-
Should be required reading in every school.
- By William Michael Brauer on 12-29-16
By: Henry Hazlitt
-
Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
-
-
Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
-
Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!
- Big Book Series
- By: Otto Penzler
- Narrated by: Heather Costa, Matt Godfrey
- Length: 50 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! is the darkest, the living-deadliest, scariest - and dare we say most tasteful - collection of zombie stories ever assembled. It's so good, it's a no-brainer. There is never a dull moment in the world of zombies. They are superstars of horror, and they are everywhere, storming the world of print and visual media. Their endless march will never be stopped. It's the Zombie Zeitgeist! Now, with his wide sweep of knowledge and keen eye for great storytelling, Otto Penzler offers a remarkable catalog of zombie literature.
-
-
I enjoyed 75% of the stories in this awesome book.
- By Mark Smith on 02-08-20
By: Otto Penzler
-
The Meaning of Human Existence
- By: Edward O. Wilson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Searching for meaning in what Nietzsche once called “the rainbow colors” around the outer edges of knowledge and imagination, Edward O. Wilson bridges science and philosophy to create a 21st century treatise on human existence. Once criticized for his over-reliance on genetics, Wilson unfurls here his most expansive and advanced theories on human behavior, recognizing that, even though the human and spider evolved similarly, the poet’s sonnet is wholly different than the spider’s web.
-
-
Evolutionary Biology and the Big Question
- By Margaret on 03-29-15
By: Edward O. Wilson
Publisher's Summary
What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from 20 countries, ranging as far back as the 18th century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.
Piketty shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality - the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth - today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, Piketty says, and may do so again.
A work of extraordinary ambition, originality, and rigor, Capital in the Twenty-First Century reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ben
- 11-02-19
Data-Driven Books which Lie about Data are Useless
Piketty's book strives to support the claim that r > g, and so inequality will invariably rise in capitalist societies with laissez-faire economic policies. This is an interesting claim which deserves thorough study. Unfortunately, Piketty's methods undermine his own case.
For example, one of Piketty's central claims is a plot of wealth inequality in the US over the past century (Fig 10.5). To do this, Piketty aggregates data from different studies. This is reasonable. But he uses only a single time point from each study! Each study applied their own data-collection methodology to generate their own curves, and Piketty's aggregation looks nothing like any of them. It is clear that he cherry-picked the samples to support the conclusion he desired.
Another egregious example of pseudo-intellectualism is his dismissal of technological advancements. Piketty claims that because globalization has spread the benefits of technology equally to all countries, we can ignore the effects of technological advancements when comparing countries. This is an extremely strong assertion that Piketty takes no effort to justify. Do we really believe that every country's economy benefits equally from Silicon Valley? Once considered, it becomes apparent that many of Piketty's claims can be countered by simply asking about technological advancement -- the fact that Piketty dismisses this out-of-hand exemplifies his cavalier attitude.
Even more embarrasing is Piketty's response to criticism. When economists have called out his shoddy methodology, Piketty's main response has been that people are able to see rising inequality with their own eyes and thus should not worry about his methodology. The strength of his thesis rests of the quality of the data -- if this cannot be defended, then what is the point of this book?
54 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- serine
- 01-23-16
worth the time
I liked this book a great deal. Initially, I wasn't quite sure if I would be interested in reading the entire book -- it's quite long and it includes a lot of information about finance, which is not usually something that draws me in -- but I enjoyed every page. Even when the author gave the reader permission to skip ('If you are familiar with x concept, feel free to move to the next section"), I remained engaged with the material. Piketty is great writer -- marrying finance, Jane Austin novels, culture, and various other tidbits, which culminated in an extremely thorough, yet readable, work.
There are always so many questions I ask myself about the state of money, debt, and equality on a global level but never quite have the answers to. Piketty addresses an astounding number of concerns about our global economy. I would like to have seen him delve into a few discussions in more detail. He was heavy on the facts about finance and less so about the origins of inequality. However the book was so long; perhaps what I am asking for would be another book in and of itself. My one regret was not taking notes.
Excellent work. I recommend to anyone interested in how money is acquired, accumulated, grown, disbursed, kept in the hands of one group/individual or another. Piketty discusses who has the money, what impact their wealth has on the world at large, what should or should not be done so that the money can help the masses but also remain concentrated enough to fund space, education, etc.
As an aside, it was interesting for me to read about the same pattern, in which over and over rich individuals who amass great fortunes and get to decide what advancement will take place on a national and even global level. For example, Andrew Carnegie is portrayed as a careless tyrant who grew his fortune, only to give it to the masses in controlled, thought out ways that changed the face of education, the space program, and so on. Bill Gates is doing the same thing now. Mark Zukerberg just made the news for allocating his 45 billion dollar fortune to various causes.
Absolutely worth your time, money, and effort to read this book.
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kazuhiko
- 06-14-14
Audio format still useful to get the gist of it
I agree with the other reviewer who warned that the PDF has 106 pages of figures and tables and that the audio format may not be the best way to "read" this book.
However, in my case, there is no way for me, who is not an economist or a student, to get through 685 pages (577 pages of main text and figures plus notes, index, etc.) in the hardcover copy just by, uh, reading. While the audiobook's 25 hours is longer than the length of an average audiobook, I got through it in less than 10 days just by listening during my daily commute and chores, and I feel I got the gist of the content. It was interesting enough and, I felt I missed some important aspects of the argument depicted in the figures, so I went out and got a hardcopy and a notebook so that I can even take notes. Yes, this audiobook got me interested in this book.
An unexpected bonus of this book for me was the author's references to the characters and the financial/societal backdrops of stories by Jane Austen and Honoré de Balzac. I did not realize how much I missed and did not comprehend the important nuances of the stories from the 19th centuries world (or 18th or 20th for that matter). We don't usually pay attention to how culture is influenced by the distribution of capital in the society and how that affects day-to-day mood of people in it.
I noticed that this book has been greatly politicized. But to me, the book simply provides DATA-DRIVEN analyses and recommendations for a fair society.
173 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dezertol
- 10-08-19
Not a book about capital,
This book is not about capital it's about wealth redistribution. Written from a French prospective, the author actually said that he came to the US to experience the "American Dream" but.. he came as a professor for a college couldn't comprehend the American mind set and left 2 years later and has never been outside of France sense.
This book is an argument for the redistribution of wealth in all it's forms. It lacks the basic understand of how money and capital work.
As I personally feel that taking from the wealthy to give to the poor is called theft, this book was a very hard listen. The performance was really well done, but the the content of this book is a waste of time. Mostly because the wealthy are the ones that make the laws and will never volunteer to give up their own lifestyle.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Madeleine
- 05-22-14
The Financial Times' Critique Doesn't Detract
It is a deep shame that the Financial Times' critique of Piketty's data is going to put some people off from buying and listening to this book, because a few quibbles about a very small amount of the data (on the UK only) doesn't detract from the validity of this detailed piece of analysis. It won't matter that many other well-respected economists defend Piketty's use of the data, or the robustness of his argument. For the readers of the FT, for those who represent the top 10% of weathholders, or those who aspire to be one of them, this book is a fundamental threat to their plans.
It's a long book, and it takes some concentration to listen to. Looking at the linked PDFs help to bring the stats and numbers to life. But I found it incredibly worthwhile. The central argument - that R>G (capital always trumps growth) is successfully and persuasively argued six ways from Sunday. And that is something not even Piketty's most vehement detractors can argue against.
Nor did I find Piketty's conclusions and suggestions even close to being the 'radical marxist' ones that he's been accused of holding by the press. He's conscious of the fundamental value of entrepreneurship, of a vibrant market.
When all is said and done, this book will polarize its readers along ideological lines. Because ultimately he's asking the question: what do we want our society to look like? He argues very persuasively that many of the ways we have sought to establish fairness and meritocracy in society have been ineffective in the long run.
This book threatens those who continue to perpetuate the myth that there are even playing fields: that financial success is based on merit, that opportunity is available to everyone, that trickle-down economics works, that education is the great leveler. There are good reasons why certain groups find this book threatening. It erodes the very thin veneer that the free market is truly free.
But it is also a very optimistic book. Piketty offers some very 'unradical' solutions for how to mitigate the problem of rapidly accelerating wealth concentration. It's not a 'downer' at all.
The narration is good for such a long and complex book. Well chosen to be easy on the ears but still engage the concentration. I found it well worth the credit and the time I spent on it.
204 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- L. Kerr
- 06-20-14
Worth the time and money
I gave this audiobook 5 stars even though it's not perfect. Here's why.
Obviously audiobook is not the perfect format for a wonky macroeconomic tome with lots of graphs and numbers. Even though it comes with pdf files for the charts, that's not much help when you're listening in the car. But the glass of water half full is that I wouldn't have had the time to read this book, so listening is better than nothing. And this book has great merit.
We've all read the criticism of the author's predictions and extrapolations. That was predictable because of the reflexive reaction by conservatives, and also the carping economists who would never dream of having a best seller on their hands, thus turning into to haters.
Even if you ignore the author's prediction that US wealth is and will continue to become more concentrated in the clutches of the one-percenters, this book is valuable for its fascinating explanation of the history of wealth stratification. That alone taught me a great deal and helps explain where any why the world economy is. In brief, wealth has always tended to rise to the top. It was only because of the "economic shocks" of the two World Wars that the American and European middle classes got a temporary bigger piece of the pie. Add to this the fact that emerging economies are merely catching up to us explains why Americans have anxiety about not being so far ahead of the rest of the world.
This book is a great history lesson. Don't prejudge it just because, in the end, the author makes some value judgments. Learning is great fun. At least I think so.
37 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Olsen
- 10-09-14
Great Research and questionable conclusions
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
Yes, I believe it is good to hear from all different sides of an argument. The book included some very interesting research to help shed light on the challenge of inequality. The first half that covered more of the research I very much enjoyed. The second half where he drew conclusions from his work and made a number of value judgements frustrated me. But the research alone is worth it and the reader was excellent.
Would you be willing to try another book from Thomas Piketty and Arthur Goldhammer (translator) ? Why or why not?
Maybe, not right away.
Was Capital in the Twenty-First Century worth the listening time?
This is questionable. The book is very long and although it continued to present new ideas as it progressed, I became fatigued and was waiting for it to end while still wanting to get to the finish line.
Any additional comments?
I want to explain what frustrated me because much of the book was really good. Toward the end he started to draw inferences and include many value judgements that went into his recommendations with as much force as the research. He also started to present facts and give a few reasons or possible explanations for the results and then would simply say but the best solution is x without any reasons why he chose one explanation over another except that it fit his case. I felt the research was interesting but he seemed to force it into a single solution to make a stronger case for very high individual tax rates and a global tax on wealth. Describing that we have inequality and showing the growing problem was a lot easier than giving single solutions. Especially when those solutions left out a lot of analysis on the strengths and weaknesses of the recommendations. Yet that was the push towards the end to explain the recommendation without really proving the his solution was best. Still, whether you agree or not with him, he presents a a thought out, researched opinion that I think adds to the general discussion.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 05-25-14
Hottest Economic Beach Read of the Season
This is one of those scholarly books that seem to end up being accidental cultural markers of time and place. I'm pretty sure Piketty wanted his book to be read/discussed/debated, and Belnap/Harvard Press certainly wanted it to be bought. But, I'm pretty sure neither the author or the publisher was expecting it to do sell like it did (whether it gets read is another matter). My guess is this book will stimulate a lot of debate about the real nature and scope of income and capital inequality AND debate about the proper roll of government in addressing these issues.
What I loved about this book was Piketty's voice. His narrative style. The fact he rejected the theoretical speculation favored by a lot of modern economists and instead went with a historical and data-centric narrative, gave this book juice. He wrote an economics book that demands to be read. I loved how he used literature (Balzac and Austen) as reference points for his thesis about the challenges with income and capital disparities between the 1% and the lower 50%. I loved his boldness. I mean really, it takes some scholarly, economic balls to name your book 'Capital'. It is like walking into a Liverpool pub with a Manchester Untied shirt on. Piketty was provocative right from the start.
Why didn't I rate this higher? I thought his proscriptive approach (Part IV) was a bit naive. I get what he is trying to do. He is setting the flag at the ideal point and letting the politics take care of itself, but his ideal isn't really even on this planet (not even on Planet France). I'm not sure the governing class in any of the major nations he dealt with will ever be ready for a large-scale capital tax, or a global system of taxing and studying incomes. There just isn't any stomach for that. Perhaps I'm a pessimist, but I think we are already governed by system of economic élite domination. It is more likely that a natural disaster, world war, or years of inflation are way more likely to change the current and growing capital inequality in the US and Europe than any preventative, rational, or progressive tax on wealth.
We can barely politically stomach a slight increase to capital gains/dividend tax rates without shutting down government and calls to impeach our president. A one-time, double-digit tax on wealth just won't happen in my lifetime. When 97% of scientists warn us about global warming, but because of vested energy interests and media complicity we find half of our nation believing it is all hype as the poles melt, what hope do we have in preventing millionaires and billionaires from accumulating more wealth? Most will remain ignorant of the problem, apathetic about how that type of income disparity harms democracy, and mostly antagonistic about changing what is perceived to be a meritocracy for a redistributive tax solution. Just not going to happen. I can't see it happening in France, let alone Britain, China or the US.
But that is just me venting my frustrations. The future IS the sole property of the future. I might be wrong. For the most part the book is already doing what he wanted. He's got FT writing and challenging his data. He has Paul Krugman giving supporting data. I'm reading his book instead of a Dan Brown novel. So, my bitching aside, his book has already done 10x what it had every practical right to do. It might just end up being the next John Rawls tome, read by economists, politicians and those tired of Dan Brown novels. I sure hope so.
108 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ryan
- 06-18-14
Wall, meet writing
Spoiler alert: the takeaway from Thomas Piketty's dry but much-discussed book is what most citizens of the developed world already know: income and wealth inequality in first world countries, particularly the United States, are at levels not seen since the Gilded Age. As much as I've personally benefitted from globalism and technology, it’s obvious that the lion’s share of the profits from these trends has gone to a small elite, while many Americans are being left behind in an economy that no longer places great value on their skills (or gives a damn about educating their kids).
No doubt, the timing of the book’s publication has something to do with the big splash it made -- these are clearly issues on a lot of minds -- but Piketty brings some cool analysis to the current reality, helping the reader understand how to see it in terms of historical data. As he argues, all economic evidence suggests that this disparity is likely to continue to grow, driving modern countries towards a form of society not seen since 19th century Europe. There, he shows, there was less economic growth than in the 20th century, which meant that a small upper class that controlled most of the capital received most of the income, consolidating its dominance through inheritance. Piketty brilliantly illustrates this point with references to classic 19th century novels, wherein protagonists aren’t trying to better themselves in careers in which advancement is limited, but are focused on marrying well. Only the shock of two world wars ended this reality, creating a few decades of growth-through-rebuilding and relatively egalitarian prosperity for Western Europe and the US.
Piketty dives down into the weeds of numerical data, graphs, charts, and comparison tables to make his point, which doesn’t always make for an ideal audiobook listen. Though there’s a PDF supplement, dedicated readers might want to get the book in print. Still, the gist is clear. We can no longer count on the rapid expansion and population growth that drove the wheels of US industry in earlier days. Return on capital is now a better bet than return on growth in most sectors of a 21st century non-emerging economy, with the start-up costs for high-tech industries or rental properties favoring the already wealthy. Even the apparent exceptions, such as software development (my own field), kind of prove the rule, in the sense that they only provide jobs for a small class of highly-skilled workers, sometimes to the detriment of the less-skilled.
However, Piketty’s proposed solutions, as much as I agree with their goals, seem naive given current politics. He advocates more confiscatory taxes on the global top 1%, more transparency in the financial systems of all countries, and stronger international laws related to seizing the assets of tax dodgers. I don’t know about his fellow French citizens, but to even suggest to a certain segment of the US electorate that their country might not actually be a meritocracy, or that it be more subject to some international body of law, would trigger instant howling outrage. Never mind that most of that group will never be wealthy themselves -- they would still rather live in a decaying shack, imagining their interests to be aligned with those of the billionaire Koch Brothers, than ever agree with some “socialist” French academic.
Piketty emphasizes his faith in democracy, but there are a few things I wish he’d discussed more, even if they fall outside the purview of economics. The long-term implications of technological advances on the job market. The tendency of big government and big business to end up in bed with each other. How the people can take back ownership of the political system and the machinery of production without going down the failed route of Communism.
Still, I’m glad this book is being talked about. If the Boomer Generation is still earnestly clinging to the “American Dream” ideals it once knew, it’s pretty clear to younger generations that the system isn’t so meritocratic or upwardly mobile as it once was. I think that Piketty, a Gen-Xer himself, is speaking more to this demographic than the one currently in charge. After all, to quote a certain Gen-X musical, the aging Koch brothers are “just for now”.
That said, your kids might give some thought to marrying one of their heirs.
43 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sierra Bravo
- 09-14-14
One side of the story.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, an old friend of mine would say that there are three sides to everything, your side, my side and the truth. This book is one side of the story and the data and assumptions made are intended to bolster that side.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
The ending is a summary of the book hardly a surprise.
What does L. J. Ganser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
It is clear and concise reading that can be followed, not an easy task with such a book. Audio frees time over reading (usually on long car trips)
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Piketty cherry picks his data to prove a point but criticizes those with different views for doing the same thing. For example when comparing inequality in 1900-1910 to inequality in 200-2010 Piketty chooses to ignore transfer payments and income taxes. Since neither existed in the earlier period but both are very substantial, and substantial forces for reducing inequality today. Ignoring these makes the resulting comparisons are very skewed from reality. He is clearly smart enough to know this and deliberate misrepresentations like this cloud an important discussion. It frustrates me when this is done deliberately to make the data prove a point. Both sides do it.
Any additional comments?
If you believe that income inequality is not a problem then you should read (listen to) this book. If you believe that all wealth is inherited and they system is rigged so that the little guy never get ahead you should perhaps read "The Millionaire Next Door" which is also research based and paints a very different picture of the wealthy. Always challenge your beliefs by reading the other side it gets you close to the truth in the middle.
36 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jeannie
- 08-16-15
Great book - pity about the editing of the reading
Would you consider the audio edition of Capital in the Twenty-First Century to be better than the print version?
It was great to have them both, and to be able to switch between then with WhisperSync, but there were so many glitches in the reading that it was often difficult to understand the point Piketty was making.
The text was translated from the French, and the sentences were long - very long - and very complex. Ganser would start a sentence with a particular intonation, and then realise half way through the sentence that it wasn't going to end quite as he thought, so he would either change his intonation, which made it difficult to follow, as the two halves of the sentence no longer 'belonged' together, or he wouldn't change his intonation, which would make it almost impossible to understand the grammar of the sentence.
I have every sympathy with his predicament, as it is a long and complicated book, and it is impossible to get everything right the first time - but if the audio publisher had been prepared to re-record and splice in more coherent narration at significant points in the text, it would have made such a difference.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Capital in the Twenty-First Century?
Realising that economics is not just an objective science, but depends on your point of view and what you think is important about human life.
Who might you have cast as narrator instead of L. J. Ganser?
His voice was great, and the performance full of enthusiasm, so if the audio publisher had done a bit more work on the editing of the recording, I would think him ideal.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Not sure it would make a very good film!
35 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David
- 08-08-14
The most talked about non-fiction book this year
This is a mega-work - both in length and impact. The most detailed study of the distribution of wealth for decades - a monumental work of scholarship - and a powerful polemic for the effective global taxation of wealth. It's not the ideal Audible Book because you need to print off loads of PDF charts to really make sense of it, which, since I was listening to it at the gym, was a bit of a problem. Also because it has provoked a lot of debate, including over the accuracy of some of the data, you may prefer to spend your time tuning into the debate on-line; unless you are a professional economist, in which case you will have already read it and have an annotated hard-back copy on your shelf. I committed to the twenty plus hours of listening and learnt a lot. I especially like some of the incidental historical detail and the sections where he goes off-piste and gives us his views on the Euro crisis. I was convinced by both the analysis and the polemic. He is open enough to put all his data on-line. The critique by the FT's economics editor casts doubt on some of it, but Piketty's response is strong, and the fundamental argument that inequality is growing because the returns to capital are growing at a faster rate than the standard of living of the majority of the population survives intact.
44 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Nicus
- 08-03-19
Very interesting content, extremely hard to follow
I found the content very interesting but extremely hard to follow as an audiobook. Continuous references to charts you have to lookup in the PDF (hard to watch on a phone). Maybe I am a visual person, but I can visualise a mathematical formula very easily if I see it written, not if someone read it to me. I sadly gave up after a few chapters.
I have to admit I was listening to this audiobook while commuting. You need a lot of concentration hard to have while on crowded transportation.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mashfikur
- 09-30-18
Unexpected brilliant
Downloaded by mistake, and have admit that was one the best mistake ever made.
Gives an incredible insight of the historical perspective of the global wealth.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Thirsty hippo
- 12-18-20
A book for 21st century
More accessible to the layman than I expected, which is a good thing. Capital growth only benefits the elites, drives inequality which is a bad thing and will lead to political instability, eventually political violence. The alternative is increasing oppression by the state to prevent this violence, as seems the path of China and Russia. Properly taxing wealth is the best way to avoid these outcomes and maintain a stable and equitable society with a large trickle down to the rest of us, otherwise this unsustainable inequality and tension will only end badly. Well, that's clear isn't it? Apparently not, Pickerty is not being listened to much by governments, yet his predictions are bearing out: Trump, brexit and a host of other demogues are riding the waves of popular discontent, which, especially in the middle of a pandemic, is a problem for us all. How we manage wealth, good governance and good public services matter.
Tax capital rather than punish the poor with austerity is his basic message but whether we will remains to be seen. If not I think we will see alot worse to come than Trump and his angry mobs thus far.
I hope the pandemic causes a collective rethink away from out of control capitalism and gives the ideas of Mr Pickerty the credence they deserve. If not we ignore this canary in the mine to our peril.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Oliver Molbech
- 09-06-20
Figures are mentioned AFTER he talks about them. No pause is given. No bookmarks. No timestamps.
This book should have been a video with black screen when no graphs are shown.
First of all the speed is very fast paced. Npt on comprehension, but his voice and reading stresses me out. Then he seems to talk about random numbers charts or figures where there are none referenced. And even the ones I looked at: where are the statistics from?? This could just as well be a biased whitewashing of history.
I expected to learn how to deal with mathematical explanations of WHY things are the way they are. But even halfway into chapter four, I fail to see how this book is applicable to the modern stock market. I learned all those in high school society’s class. This book is useless to me.
Honestly, I’d like my money back. I will buy this book physically.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Lekan
- 07-21-15
Awesome insight to the history/future of Capital
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Definitely worth taking the time to listen. Very informative and easy to understand the goal of the author.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Capital in the Twenty-First Century?
This statement was a my favourite "The advantage of owning things is that one can continue to consume and accumulate without having to work. Or continue to consume and accumulate more than one could produce on ones own."
What about L. J. Ganser’s performance did you like?
Very captivating
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
This statement was a my favourite "The advantage of owning things is that one can continue to consume and accumulate without having to work. Or continue to consume and accumulate more than one could produce on ones own."
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Alexander
- 06-06-14
A momentous, highly enjoyable book.
Would you consider the audio edition of Capital in the Twenty-First Century to be better than the print version?
Unfortunately, as there are many references to graphs, the print edition might be preferable to the audio version, but the performance adequately describes the content of the graphs so the listener is not at a loss.
Any additional comments?
This book has rightly inspired a heated debate which hopefully will lead to some very significant reforms in the way our modern economy works.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Catherine Hamilton
- 01-02-21
there is no reference material
the site says you can see pdf reference material for this book once you have purchased it. this is necessary as much of the text makes detailed reference to graphs and tables. it makes little sense otherwise. but the claimed reference material is not included leaving much of the text incomprehensible.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Victoria
- 07-08-14
Heavy going, questionable statistics...?
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
This was a difficult listening experience. Too many figures and formulas for an audiobook and too vague ideas without cohesive explanations which were followable as an audiobook.
What will your next listen be?
Something lighter and without the figure-heavy, formula-heavy random, straggled monologue.
Who might you have cast as narrator instead of L. J. Ganser?
A Non-american
What character would you cut from Capital in the Twenty-First Century?
Not Applicable
Any additional comments?
This has been praised and slated in equal measure in the media. I'm erring on the side of unimpressed. The overall theme and tenet of the book could be explained in a far more brief format, with snappier and more appealing illustrative examples. The catch-all formulas make no sense in audio format and, as such, I have not and will not finish this audiobook.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Brett
- 05-07-17
Required reading
I made the mistake of listening to rather than reading this brilliant book. With the prevalence of numbers, equations and graphs it would have been better on the page. That said, it is so clearly written that I was still able to follow and absorb the dense content on audio.
This should be required reading for everyone. The breadth and depth of research is incredible, regardless of what you make of Picketty's final suggestions, which he largely cordons off to the closing chapters. This is the ultimate 'step back and see the big picture' explanation of wealth, wages, taxes and the historic interplay thereof. For an economic layman such as myself I now feel like I have a grasp on a subject that is mystified for most of us but affects all of us. In fact, money dictates our lives but we barely understand and certainly don't question the system that distributes it. Another way to think about it: You see that the childish bickering of the daily political news cycle and think you understand economics. Reading the book is stepping back and seeing that the children are all in the same plane as it spirals out of control. Too few people are talking in these broader terms but it's critical that everyone becomes economically literate and this book is the best avenue to do so that I know of. Read it and recommend it to everyone.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jacob
- 05-30-16
not especially well suited to audio
understandable. not too technical, but very detailed with lots of numbers. perhaps better in print.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Derek Holder
- 01-22-15
Compelling argument to change society
Just need to get the broader population to read this comprehensive treatise, so a more successful and just society can be achieved.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Stan
- 02-20-16
Tough subject well presented
Capital in the 21st century: who thought id occasionally laugh to myself. I'm not a person who has studied economics, but I found this interesting, comprehensible and greatly deepening of my understanding.
The reader did a great job of giving coherence to a challenging read.
The subject matter is compelling - is capital wealth inequality inevitable and what can be done about it. The solution he proposes is almost utopian, though certainly technically feasible.
A fascinating read.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- reads:6189182
- 10-19-21
It's fine.
Not sure why they got a narrator that is really average at French pronunciation and also doesn't really seem to wrap his head around the materials. At points it's really evident he's just saying words with out any real comprehension, also don't want to moan about the thick US accent (I've heard this guy narrate other works where it made sense), but it's not good here, it's at odds with the material.
Also many references to PDF, which is not included, which is annoying.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jake Norris
- 03-02-21
Great work on wealth and income inequality
Does a great job examining the role of capital and its accumulation in economic inequality - both with national borders and globally.
Really good narration, especially considering it is a translation from French.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- dn thorp
- 09-28-20
Long but worth it
I feel better informed about inequality after listening to this book. Its scope is vast but the actual conclusions are easily understood, even by dummies such as me.