Capital in the Twenty-First Century
700 pages proving that wealth concentrates - and where biological parallels break down
"When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities."
— Thomas Piketty
My Review
Piketty's central finding - that returns on capital (r) exceed economic growth (g) over time - raises fascinating biological questions. What are the equivalents of capital vs. labour in the animal kingdom? Territory is capital - it generates returns to its holder. But here's the nuance: biological 'capital' often doesn't compound for the individual the way financial capital does. A jay or squirrel stores acorns for winter. Some get forgotten. Those forgotten acorns become oak trees that feed squirrels generations later. The 'return on capital' benefits the ecosystem and future generations, not the original investor. Nature's r > g operates at species and ecosystem level, not individual level - which may be why extreme individual wealth concentration is a uniquely human phenomenon.
Why It Matters
Territory and stores are biological 'capital', but nature's compounding works differently. A forgotten acorn becomes an oak tree - but it feeds future squirrels, not the one who buried it. Biological returns flow to the ecosystem; human capital compounds to the individual. This distinction may explain why extreme individual wealth concentration is uniquely human.
Key Ideas
- r > g: returns on capital exceed economic growth over time
- Wealth concentration is the historical norm, not the exception
- Inheritance perpetuates advantage across generations
- But biology distributes returns differently - the squirrel's forgotten acorn feeds future generations, not the squirrel
How It Connects to This Framework
The territorial defence concepts and resource accumulation dynamics throughout.
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