While there are essays referencing the American financial system, the focus of this book is on European economic system which I have little knowledge and interest. I should have done more due diligence on the book’s topics. I read a few essays (which were well written) but I have no interest in most of the topics in the book. ( )

Consists of newspaper columns published in France between 2005 and 2015. A lot of them deal with French and European politics (for example elections), and the columns are quite repetetive. The main themes are: there should be a progressive tax on the capital to combat the increasing inequality, and the euro zone should unite to avoid having high interest on national debt for some countries hold back growth. ( )

Any rational person sees the world's injustice. Few come up with commonsensical, tried-and-true solutions as does Thomas Piketty, week by week, in his newspaper column for Libération, a Socialist-aligned daily.

You'll remember Piketty's name from his monster bestselling tome, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which The Belknap Press brought out in 2014. It's sat unread on many a poseur's coffee table. (I've owned it since 2015, and have reached p310: Wage Scales and the Minimum Wage, which begins: "There is no doubt that the minimum wage plays an essential role on the formation and evolution of wage inequalities, as the French and US experiences show." Out of 577 pages of text plus a hundred or so more of back-matter, I can't claim to be whipping through this one...not least because OWWW my hands!)

And still, I say with his, among other reasonable voices (I'm looking at you, Yanis Varoufakis), pointing and waving their arms to drag the world's attention to these solutions, what's the problem with fixing the seriously, badly broken economic stuff the 99.9% endure?! Here's the problem. Piketty wants to tame greed and mitigate inequality. That does not suit the Economic Royalists in control of the modern world.

See the rest on my blog, Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud. ( )

Piketty starts this book with a preface explaining what this book is exactly - 48 articles written between 2008 and 2015 for French newspapers, unedited in any way. As a result the book tends to be repetitive - the same argument over and over, sometimes in more than 10 articles - due to a different trigger or due to some change in the French policies or the world of finance.

As these were published for the French public, the short articles are written for people the follow the news and who are interested in the local politics. The translator, Seth Ackerman, added short prefaces to a lot of the articles to explain some of the background and history involved. These short sections complement the articles perfectly - and make the book relevant and readable even if you have no idea how EU is built and what happens behind the scenes; they are even more important for the purely French articles.

Most of the articles boil down to essays and writing on the topic of inequality in EU(and why it is bound to grow instead of decline), the problem with the euro (having 17 (and later 18) countries with one currency but separate debts and tax policies can never work - separate government cannot use their most powerful weapons - inflation and devaluing currency - when they do not own the currency and at the same time, the ECB cannot protect their debt from huge interest hikes) and the passive role of France despite being at the front of the EU summits and decisions. The title is provocative by design - some articles do treat the bailouts of Ireland, Greece and Cyprus of course but even they are in the light of the euro/debt conversation.

The rest of the articles on the USA monetary politics (and how they managed to escape the crisis faster despite being in a worse position), a couple of article for Asia (Hong Kong and Japan), one for Latin America (using a novel as a start) and internal French politics ones. This latter group is less cohesive and does not contain that many repetitions - and as a result are easier to read in quick succession.

It is almost funny to read the reminder of France and Germany's debts being dealt with after WWII and having the same two countries telling all the countries in Southern and Eastern Europe that they need to pay their debt to the euro and they cannot do anything to bail out of it. Yes, there was no war this time (for most of the involved countries) but still, it is a bit cynical. And it is even worse when you look at the interests rates - 2% or thereabouts for Germany, 5% or so for Italy for example - and Italy cannot do anything to protect itself while on the euro.

I lived in one of the newest EU countries until late in 2010. Some of those early stories I was painfully aware of - Bulgaria was not(and still is not) in the Eurozone but our currency is tied to the euro by an IMF mandate after the hyperinflation almost 2 decades ago. The fact that the institution cannot survive in its current form was obvious and still is and the lack of desire from the strong countries to deal with the problem will continue being the reason for the Eurozone still struggling. Piketty, despite being an economist and not a politician, says the same more than once. Maybe one day, someone will be brave enough to try to solve the issue; or maybe EU or the euro will fail.

The book is worth reading - just not in one sitting. The repetition does grate badly in places - and you know what is coming as an argument. But it is the kind of books that is needed more than ever - and if it shows the non-European readers what is really happening in the EU, maybe the repetition is worth enduring. You do not need to agree with everything he has to sau in order to understand that there is a lot to be done. And I really need to pick up Picketty's other books. ( )