Reddit reviews Summary of Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty | Includes Analysis

Some good books to begin with in my opinion:

Okun – Equality and Efficieny



Atkinson - Inequality


Milanovic – Global Inequality and The have and haves not

Piketty – Capital in the 21st century
or a summary (I read the book not the summary so I can't tell you that the summary is done well)

I think Piketty matters because it illustrates why the distinction between wealth and income matters. I know Piketty also wrote The economics of Inequality, but I haven't yet read it. I know some here will probably nuance his findings, but for this topic it is still a good source as it does explain why the difference matters.


Some of these (Okun for example) are relatively old. Thus take the conclusions with a grain of salt. At the same time, he (as well as most books here) provide both a factual as well as (in my view important in this discussion) an intuitive and normative explanation of their point. That's also why I'd personally prefer books over papers in this case.

Milanovic in Global inequality does a good job (in my opinion) of explaining the differences between within and across border inequality and why it matters. In the have and haves not he also delves into how inequality could be bad. Plus that is also quite a readable book for someone not too in interested/familiar with economics.

Reading some of these is interesting because they will argue multiple sides, leaving you with quite a nuanced view. After Okun you will probably see inequality as quite necessary, whilst you will not be as sure anymore after reading Milanovic.