ABSTRACT
French economist, Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, offers a comprehensive historical narrative and economic analysis of the developments in the accumulation and distribution of capital spanning two centuries. This chapter reviews Piketty’s detailed work on the dynamics of inequality to discern the way forces of divergence (r > g inequality equation), and wealth accumulation (or “super-wealth”) within “patrimonial societies” produce unequal wage and capital distribution over time. His research shows that the rate of return on capital far exceeds the growth rate of the economy, leading to an unequal concentration of wealth at the top 1 per cent of economic elites. Piketty’s solution to increased inequality is redistribution through mechanisms of state regulation, tighter fiscal control and a progressive global wealth tax. He also advocates for a basic income to be part of the overall strategies toward democratising the social state and society. Piketty’s work is a powerful resource for teaching in the policy space. This chapter offers an approach to applying Piketty’s economic analyses in social work and human services education; and critically explores the potentialities of using education as a “force for convergence”, for countering the increasing divergence of global economic inequality.
