Scan barcode
waynediane's review against another edition
4.0
Much better than reading his 2016 book Capital in the 21st. Lots of graphs and charts. Maybe some problem with comparisons apples to oranges in regards to Capitalism in the US and Capital/Socialism in France etc. Some nice comparisons of North vs. South of the Ecuador. Also, some environmental concerns etc.
carlacbarroso's review against another edition
4.0
Já há algum tempo que queria ler algo deste autor e este pareceu-me um bom ponto de partida. Basicamente, segundo o autor "existe um movimento de longo prazo que caminha para mais igualdade social, económica e política ao longo da história" (p. 13), sendo este movimento consequência das lutas e revoltas contra injustiças, que permitem transformar relações de força e derrubar mesmo instituições apoiadas pelas classes dominantes. Contudo, e apesar de hoje haver mais igualdade do que em séculos anteriores, há ainda muito mais a fazer.
dariiiii's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
schmavery's review against another edition
5.0
I'm very glad that Piketty wrote this more accessible update to his material. His other books felt a little intimidating but this was readable while still containing so many important ideas. Even though some of the examples and vocabulary still went over my head, I found myself highlighting a paragraph every few pages.
I read this after [b:The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|1237300|The Shock Doctrine The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442590618l/1237300._SY75_.jpg|2826418], which had made me feel somewhat pessimistic about the future and at a loss for what a functional globalized society could look like. Klein's book did a lot to point out the flaws in Friedman's economic model but didn't provide as much of an answer about what might be better. At times, it paints a pretty grim picture of humanity.
Piketty's ideas seemed to perfectly fill the gap - he is generally optimistic about our capacity to move towards equality over time, while still being completely realistic about how much work it requires to do so. He has many example of concrete policies that could be implemented to increase equality.
If anything, I wish it had felt more actionable, but I'll admit this is probably hard to do. I did appreciate that he mentioned whenever a specific government was trying to implement something similar to what he was describing.
To me, this feels like required reading for anyone who is losing hope in humanity's ability to "play nice", making a compelling argument that in helping each other and working together, we can all benefit.
I read this after [b:The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|1237300|The Shock Doctrine The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442590618l/1237300._SY75_.jpg|2826418], which had made me feel somewhat pessimistic about the future and at a loss for what a functional globalized society could look like. Klein's book did a lot to point out the flaws in Friedman's economic model but didn't provide as much of an answer about what might be better. At times, it paints a pretty grim picture of humanity.
Piketty's ideas seemed to perfectly fill the gap - he is generally optimistic about our capacity to move towards equality over time, while still being completely realistic about how much work it requires to do so. He has many example of concrete policies that could be implemented to increase equality.
If anything, I wish it had felt more actionable, but I'll admit this is probably hard to do. I did appreciate that he mentioned whenever a specific government was trying to implement something similar to what he was describing.
To me, this feels like required reading for anyone who is losing hope in humanity's ability to "play nice", making a compelling argument that in helping each other and working together, we can all benefit.
tzurky's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve you’re expecting engagement with the man’s policies, this is not the review for it. The short of it is: they’re absolutely unfathomable under current circumstances. However, he does make a good historical case that progress always seemed out of reach until it suddenly occurred. But I’m a pessimist so that’s not what I’m expecting. What I’m expecting and what I’ve been mentally preparing for is basically an unending streak of disasters, famines, war, toppling of governments and plunge into fascism and authoritarian regimes. Basically an acceleration of trends we’ve been seeing. My optimism is restricted to hoping that a) when the dust settles there’ll still be someone left and b) that those someones will have finally had enough of it and maybe maybe will start to realize that societies aren’t set in natural law and that yes, you can arrange things differently if you manage to overcome the entrenched interests.
Not that his policies are anything like extreme, mind you. If it weren’t for the Overton window making such a huge move to the right, they’d be considered downright middle of the road. They’re moderate for people that actually respect Marx, let’s put it that way. As far as my experience and views go, they’re certainly things worth thinking about and that would have palpable positive effects, though I’m more to the center than Picketty actually.
So right about now you might be wondering what I got out of the book if it wasn’t his policies (I did like the explanations and they were easy to follow but they’re more of a cherry on top): well, quite simply this is the self-help book I didn’t know I needed. Reading it I realized I’ve been feeling gaslit by the tidal wave of voices insisting that everything is fine and things can’t possibly be bad and most importantly they’ll always work themselves out in the end, things always do. Picketty is a breath of fresh air in that regard as he basically starts out with “things are shit and they’ve steadily been getting shittier in the last several decades (after a series of important improvements up to the late 20th Century because they used to be just so much more fucked-up)” and then builds on that. Finally someone who acknowledges every single issue that would be keeping me up at night if I wasn’t so complacent and egotistical.
But the best part is: he manages to have hope despite the generalized shittiness. Look, I’m well aware that cynicism and despondency aren’t productive mind-sets to have and I certainly don’t apply them about the small things i.e. anything concerning my daily life. There it’s all grit your teeth and push and pull ahead and work for improvement. But I honestly can’t stomach the big stuff if I don’t deny myself any hope of improvement. I’m now several genocides into my life and I’ve not even hit middle age so at this point I simply have to assume that there’s gonna be more of them because otherwise the next one might endanger my mental health. But Picketty is made of much sterner stuff. He’s taken a good look at the world, seen the pain and the suffering and he grabs you by the shoulders, looks you right in the eyes and says “we can change this”. I felt very uplifted by the attitude. (Yeah yeah, I know, he doesn’t give a map and he’s asking for the moon from the perspective of current realistic political options no matter where in the world - dude is trying and the first and most important step is to get people hoping anyway).
So there. The best case in point that a book review is a review of yourself. I’d appreciate you liking me - I can’t rely on Instagram and Facebook as sources of validation so this will have to do
Not that his policies are anything like extreme, mind you. If it weren’t for the Overton window making such a huge move to the right, they’d be considered downright middle of the road. They’re moderate for people that actually respect Marx, let’s put it that way. As far as my experience and views go, they’re certainly things worth thinking about and that would have palpable positive effects, though I’m more to the center than Picketty actually.
So right about now you might be wondering what I got out of the book if it wasn’t his policies (I did like the explanations and they were easy to follow but they’re more of a cherry on top): well, quite simply this is the self-help book I didn’t know I needed. Reading it I realized I’ve been feeling gaslit by the tidal wave of voices insisting that everything is fine and things can’t possibly be bad and most importantly they’ll always work themselves out in the end, things always do. Picketty is a breath of fresh air in that regard as he basically starts out with “things are shit and they’ve steadily been getting shittier in the last several decades (after a series of important improvements up to the late 20th Century because they used to be just so much more fucked-up)” and then builds on that. Finally someone who acknowledges every single issue that would be keeping me up at night if I wasn’t so complacent and egotistical.
But the best part is: he manages to have hope despite the generalized shittiness. Look, I’m well aware that cynicism and despondency aren’t productive mind-sets to have and I certainly don’t apply them about the small things i.e. anything concerning my daily life. There it’s all grit your teeth and push and pull ahead and work for improvement. But I honestly can’t stomach the big stuff if I don’t deny myself any hope of improvement. I’m now several genocides into my life and I’ve not even hit middle age so at this point I simply have to assume that there’s gonna be more of them because otherwise the next one might endanger my mental health. But Picketty is made of much sterner stuff. He’s taken a good look at the world, seen the pain and the suffering and he grabs you by the shoulders, looks you right in the eyes and says “we can change this”. I felt very uplifted by the attitude. (Yeah yeah, I know, he doesn’t give a map and he’s asking for the moon from the perspective of current realistic political options no matter where in the world - dude is trying and the first and most important step is to get people hoping anyway).
So there. The best case in point that a book review is a review of yourself. I’d appreciate you liking me - I can’t rely on Instagram and Facebook as sources of validation so this will have to do
sillypunk's review against another edition
4.0
That was a lot of economics packed k to a small package
nearnik's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25