Top Incomes in France in the Twentieth Century: Inequality and Redistribution, 1901–1998

This pioneering work by Thomas Piketty explains the facts and dynamics of income inequality in France in the twentieth century. On its publication in French in 2001, it helped launch the international program led by Piketty and others to explore the grand patterns and causes of global inequality—research that has since transformed public debate.

Table of Contents:
Contents Preface to the New Edition Acknowledgments Introduction: Why Study Top Incomes? Part One: The Evolution of Income Inequality in France in the Twentieth Century 1. A Fivefold Increase in “Average” Purchasing Power in the Twentieth Century 2. The Evolution of the Level and Composition of Top Incomes in France in the Twentieth Century 3. Wage Inequality in France in the Twentieth Century&# Part Two: Top Incomes and Redistribution in France in the Twentieth Century 4. Income Tax Legislation from 1914 to 1998 5. Who Paid What? Part Three: France and the Kuznets Curve 6. Was the “End of the Rentiers” a Tax Illusion? 7. How Does France Compare with Foreign Experiences? Conclusion: Top Incomes in France at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century Appendix A: The Raw Statistical Tables Compiled by the Tax Administration from Income Tax Returns (1915–1998 Tax Years) Appendix B: Methodology and Results of Estimates Based on Income Tax Return Statistics (1915–1998 Tax Years) Appendix C: Complementary Data on Income Tax Legislation Appendix D: Raw Data, Methodology, and Results of Estimates Based on Statistics from Employer Wage Declarations (1919–1938, 1947, and 1950–1998 Wages) Appendix E: Estimating Consistent Series for the Blue-Collar Wage and the Average Wage over the Long Run (1900–1998) Appendix F: Consumption Price Indexes (1900–1998) Appendix G: Methodology and Results of the Estimates Based on the National Accounts Series (1900–1998) Appendix H: Population, Households, and Socioprofessional Structure, 1900–1998 Appendix I: Estimates of the Income Distribution in Twentieth-Century France Appendix J: Raw Data, Methodology, and Results of Estimates Based on the Statistics Derived from Bequest Declarations (1902–1994 Bequests) Appendix K: Raw Data, Methodology, and Estimates Based on Statistics on the Distribution of Parisian Rents (1889, 1901, and 1911 Rents) Notes Works Cited Contents in Detail List of Tables and Illustrations Index

About the Author :
Piketty Thomas : Thomas Piketty is Professor at the Paris School of Economics and at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS).

Review :
A door-stopping work of economic history.Martin O'Neill, University of York: Top Incomes in France in the Twentieth Century provides an important, detailed, and analytically insightful discussion of the political and legislative history of taxation in France. This book will be of tremendous value to all those interested in issues of social justice, inequality, taxation, and the evolution of capitalism. Camille Landais, London School of Economics and Political Science: Top Incomes in France is simply unavoidable for anyone wanting to understand the historical evolution of inequality in France, and it is the groundwork without which Capital would be nonexistent. Branko Milanovic, City University of New York: Thomas Piketty's Top Incomes in France in the Twentieth Century is in many ways a precursor to his famous Capital in the Twenty-First Century, a pioneering book in the methodological sense with empirical analysis that provides the core around which political and economic developments in France are woven and discussed. Paul W. Gleason: In light of Piketty's history, every part of Hayek's argument now looks doubtful...The tremendous amount of data he gathers and analyzes (from tax rates to the price of butter) point to unavoidable conclusions. High taxes on income and inheritances can keep inequality in check, or even make it fall...Inequality is not incomprehensible or uncontrollable. It is the result of political decisions...Piketty makes clear, at great length, exactly what would stem the tide.