Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Pikettyby Thomas Piketty
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 19 economics books
Recommended as the canonical account of how wealth inequality arises, especially inheritance. Critics find the writing hard to follow and the r > g formula simplistic.
Recommended as the canonical account of how wealth inequality arises, especially inheritance. Critics find the writing hard to follow and the r > g formula simplistic.
18 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Comprehensive account of wealth inequality
“Probably the most comprehensive (but at times also longwinded) outline on how wealth inequality comes to be”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “American capitalism has taken an apocalyptic turn” “I recommend you read "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" (Piketty) for the full argument”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “Why the Global Elite Gave Up on Spelling and Grammar” “Capital in the Twenty First Century by Piketty is the canonical pick”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “The Dead Economy Theory” Changes how readers see the world
“the book changed how I see the world profoundly, I cannot recommend it highly enough”
Comment from 26 Jul 2026 in “German Peasants' War” “the parts about inequality and inheritance shattered some long standing assumptions”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” Convincing argument on growth and inequality
“a major result from Piketty's Capital In The 21st Century that people interested in "grow the pie" vs "trickle down" really ought to be familiar with”
Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “How to Earn a Billion Dollars” “This is demonstrated convincingly in Piketty's work.”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “Show HN: The bottom 50% of U.S. households are short after essentials (BLS data)” “it is a compelling argument”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “American capitalism has taken an apocalyptic turn”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Dense and hard to read
“Probably the most comprehensive (but at times also longwinded) outline on how wealth inequality comes to be”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “American capitalism has taken an apocalyptic turn” “his writing is really difficult to grasp IMHO”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “Show HN: The bottom 50% of U.S. households are short after essentials (BLS data)” Accused of Marxist political bias
“Piketty is just a marxist flailing around, backfilling data to fit his belief that communism is the solution for every problem.”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “The Dead Economy Theory” “If Picketty uses words like pie, share, transfer, concentration, etc., then his book is about as valueless as Das Kapital.”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “American capitalism has taken an apocalyptic turn”
Other economics books people recommend
The four most recommended other economics books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital in the Twenty-First Centuryby Thomas PikettyThis page | 12 | 6 | 67% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Why Nations Failby Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson | 9 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | — |
| Progress and Povertyby Henry George | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Free to Chooseby Milton Friedman | 5 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalismby Vladimir Lenin | 5 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
18 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“This is demonstrated convincingly in Piketty's work.”
“his writing is really difficult to grasp IMHO”
“These lessons are writ and the conclusions clear in Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century”
“the book changed how I see the world profoundly, I cannot recommend it highly enough”
“Piketty is just a marxist flailing around, backfilling data to fit his belief that communism is the solution for every problem.”
“Capital in the Twenty First Century by Piketty is the canonical pick”
“You'd like Capital in the 21st Century.”
“please hear what Piketty (& fiends) have to say as well”
“a major result from Piketty's Capital In The 21st Century that people interested in "grow the pie" vs "trickle down" really ought to be familiar with”
“If Picketty uses words like pie, share, transfer, concentration, etc., then his book is about as valueless as Das Kapital.”
“it is a compelling argument”
“Probably the most comprehensive (but at times also longwinded) outline on how wealth inequality comes to be”
“Recommend Piketty / Gary's Economics for more opinions on this.”
“there's a very relevant book by Thomas Pickety called "Capital in the 21st century"”
“I recommend you read "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" (Piketty) for the full argument”
“Empirical work... like conveniently ignoring the fact that there's far less old money billionaires than we'd expect?”
“the parts about inequality and inheritance shattered some long standing assumptions”
“his rather simplistic formula of "r > g"”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.