Thomas Piketty is back with a new economics book – and it's even weightier than his 2013 700-page best-seller "Capital in the 21st Century." The new book, called "Capitalism and Ideology," tops 1,200 pages and delves into the political ideologies behind income inequality, while providing radical solutions for reversing the world's wealth disparities.
"It's time to go beyond capitalism," Piketty told the French publication L'Obs earlier this month.
His new book focuses on economies outside the West, with references to India and China and analyses of communist, colonial and slave-owning economies, according to Bloomberg. It also explores the ideologies behind inequality, challenging the notion that the growing concentration of wealth in the U.S. and elsewhere represents a natural state of affairs, the publication added.
The solutions suggested by Piketty in his newest doorstopper would upend the current capitalist system, where corporate boards are largely composed of wealthy, well-connected shareholders, and taxes on capital are lower than on income. His proposals, according to The Guardian, include:
Even so, Americans will have to wait to get their hands on an English-language copy of Piketty's newest book. While it's published today in France, the English release won't be available until March 2020.
- Half of the seats on company boards should filled by employees.
- No shareholder should have more than 10% of a company's voting power.
- Taxes as high as 90% on the wealthiest estates.
- A lump-sum investment of $132,000 provided to everyone when they turn 25 years old.
- A personalized carbon tax that would be based on an individual's contribution to climate change.
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