Thomas Picketty's book Capital in the 21st Century

Theme & Driver of divergence
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In his book Capital in the 21st Century, Thomas Picketty explores the distribution, accumulation, and impact of capital on society in the 21st century. Accordingly, the main theme of the book revolves around inequality and wealth. Piketty (2014) argues that key social and economic patterns influence the distribution and accumulation of wealth in the society. The divergence in wealth concentration among various social strata is perceived as a function of the degree of access different social classes have to the means of production. To demonstrate this phenomenon, Piketty (2014) critically analyses data from over 20 different countries. The data reveals how unequal access capital between the poor and the wealthy fuel inequality further reinforcing the social strata of the society.
Piketty (2014) identifies the propensity of capital returns to surpass economic growth rate as the chief driving force of variance in the society. More often than not, capital invested by private individuals tends to generate returns that supersede the rate at which the economy of the entire society or country is growing. As such, wealthy personalities who own and control a considerable proportion of the society's capital tend to amass wealth at a greater rate than the society is collectively able to. Consequently, the gap between...