From “das kapital” to “le capital”: T. Piketty's ideas in the context of economic history

The theory of capital concentration by Thomas Piketty in the context of increase of economic inequality in long run is analyzed. Piketty's inequality considered in the context of the general concept of the «Capital in the 21 century» as the study of long-term development of capitalism in modern times. The general laws of capitalism as well as mechanism of divergences and convergences of income are briefly reviewed. To determine the degree of concentration of capital in different countries Piketty compares the upper decile (10 %) and the top centile (1 %) of wealthy families. A brief description of the key criticisms of Piketty's research is given, and the debate about the role of human capital in historical perspective and solidity of the fundamental laws of capitalism are examined. «Capital in the 21 century» is seemed to be an important contribution to the discussion of cycle of «divergences» and «slopes» of rich countries of the world.