Equality Is a Struggle: Bulletins from the Front Line, 2021-2025

by Thomas Piketty

An acclaimed economist’s observations on four years of events that have shaped the world
 
In this new volume drawn from his columns for the French newspaper Le Monde, renowned economist Thomas Piketty takes measure of the world since 2021: leaders grappling with the aftershocks of a global pandemic; politics shifting rightward in Europe and America; and wars breaking out and escalating, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. Together with an extended introductory essay arguing that an ecological socialism remains the best hope for global equality, these articles present Piketty’s vivid first draft of history—on the rise of China, political upheaval, armed conflict, inequity within and between nations, discrimination, and beyond. Despite the gathering clouds, Piketty continues to find reasons for hope.

Genres: Economics, Politics, Nonfiction, History

248 pages, Hardcover

Published September 23, 2025

About the author

Thomas Piketty (French: [tɔma pikɛti]; born May 7, 1971) is a French economist who works on wealth and income inequality. He is the director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) and professor at the Paris School of Economics. He is the author of the best selling book Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2013), which emphasizes the themes of his work on wealth concentrations and distribution over the past 250 years. The book argues that the rate of capital return in developed countries is persistently greater than the rate of economic growth, and that this will cause wealth inequality to increase in the future. To address this problem, he proposes redistribution through a global tax on wealth.

Piketty was born on May 7, 1971, in the Parisian suburb of Clichy. He gained a C-stream (scientific) Baccalauréat, and after taking scientific preparatory classes, he entered the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) at the age of 18, where he studied mathematics and economics. At the age of 22, Piketty was awarded his Ph.D. for a thesis on wealth redistribution, which he wrote at the EHESS and the London School of Economics under Roger Guesnerie.

After earning his PhD, Piketty taught from 1993 to 1995 as an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1995, he joined the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) as a researcher, and in 2000 he became director of studies at EHESS.

Piketty won the 2002 prize for the best young economist in France, and according to a list dated November 11, 2003, he is a member of the scientific orientation board of the association "À gauche, en Europe", founded by Michel Rocard and Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

In 2006 Piketty became the first head of the Paris School of Economics, which he helped set up. He left after a few months to serve as an economic advisor to Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal during the French presidential campaign. Piketty resumed teaching at the Paris School of Economics in 2007.

He is a columnist for the French newspaper Libération, and occasionally writes op-eds for Le Monde.

In April 2012, Piketty co-authored along with 42 colleagues an open letter in support of then-PS candidate for the French presidency François Hollande. Hollande won the contest against the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in May of that year.

In 2013, Piketty won the biennial Yrjö Jahnsson Award, for the economist under age 45 who has "made a contribution in theoretical and applied research that is significant to the study of economics in Europe."

Piketty specializes in economic inequality, taking a historic and statistical approach. His work looks at the rate of capital accumulation in relation to economic growth over a two hundred year spread from the nineteenth century to the present. His novel use of tax records enabled him to gather data on the very top economic elite, who had previously been understudied, and to ascertain their rate of accumulation of wealth and how this compared to the rest of society and economy. His most recent book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, relies on economic data going back 250 years to show that an ever-rising concentration of wealth is not self-correcting. To address this problem, he proposes redistribution through a global tax on wealth.

Reviews

[Justyna Tobera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trochę zbyt ogólna, ale fajny przekrój analizy polityki ostatnich lat

[Periplus Bookshop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dalam Equality Is a Struggle: Bulletins from the Front Line, 2021-2025, Thomas Piketty menelusuri sejumlah peristiwa global dalam empat tahun terakhir dengan lensa analitis yang tajam, memusatkan perhatian pada bagaimana pandemi COVID-19, pergeseran politik menuju kanan di Eropa dan Amerika, serta konflik bersenjata seperti invasi Rusia ke Ukraina menjadi indikator penting dari ketidaksetaraan yang meluas. Ia mengambil kumpulan kolomnya dari surat kabar Le Monde sebagai landasan narasi, kemudian memperluasnya dengan esai pengantar yang mengusulkan ecological socialism sebagai jalan keluar yang menjanjikan untuk mengatasi kesenjangan—baik antar negara maupun di dalamnya sendiri. Data dan analisisnya tidak hanya menyoroti pertumbuhan kekayaan dan kekuasaan yang terpusat, melainkan juga diskriminasi, ketidakadilan struktural, dan ancaman terhadap demokrasi melalui manipulasi politik dan dominasi elit ekonomi. Meskipun gambaran yang disajikan kadang terasa berat karena melibatkan isu-isu sistemik, gaya penulisan Piketty tetap jelas dan aksesibel sehingga pembaca tidak harus ahli ekonomi untuk memahami inti masalah. Di satu sisi, pembahasan tentang perubahan iklim, migrasi, dan hak asasi manusia menegaskan bahwa isu-ketidaksetaraan tidak bisa dilepaskan dari konteks ekologis dan sosial. Di sisi lain, penulis juga tidak kehilangan rasa optimisme: ia menunjukkan bahwa ada langkah-langkah konkret, kebijakan redistribusi, dan pembangunan institusi sosial yang adil yang bisa diupayakan. Bagi siapa saja yang tertarik melihat bagaimana ekonomi, politik, dan moralitas berinteraksi di dunia pasca-pandemi, buku ini menyediakan refleksi yang mendalam dan panggilan untuk bertindak. Cocok dibaca oleh mahasiswa ilmu sosial, aktivis keadilan sosial, pembuat kebijakan, pengamat politik, dan siapa saja yang peduli dengan masa depan yang lebih adil dan berkelanjutan. https://blog.periplus.com/2025/09/22/...

[Amanda books_ergo_sum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a Piketty fan—of his 1,000+ page data -rich books on the impacts of wealth inequality.

These short books, translated collections of his (even shorter) Le Monde articles? Ummm historically, I haven't been a fan-to say the least. They actually piss me off, ngl. In the past, his faith in elites to do the right thing-tax their own wealth—*if only* we could just explain our arguments well enough... completely delusional. And status quo propping up.

But something happened in this collection of articles (around the fall of 2022, specifically). Two big studies came out about the growth of billionaire wealth, so clear yet so ignored by the political establishment in France, that Piketty proceeded to have a lovely-and much needed-crash out about it for the rest of the book.

Good. Get mad, Piketty. I've been waiting almost ten years to call you comrade.

Why only 3 stars? Well, there were a few delusionally too-liberal solutions to Palestinian statehood that no one asked for in here. Growing pains? 😅

[Paul Narvaez · Rating 2 out of 5]

A follow up to his other book culled from his Le Monde articles called "Time for Socialism: Dispatches from a World on Fire, 2016-2021", This one has a slightly different emphasis but is a collection from his articles from 2021 to 2025. It was Ok. even though a bit overly familiar and pat in keeping, I suppose, with articles written for a mainstream French paper.

[Ryan O'Malley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an American reader, many of the articles may not be directly relevant to current US policy. I really enjoyed the authors explanation of GBI, Wealth Tax, and other safety net changes