Capital in the 21 Centurey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Capital in the 21 Centurey - Essay Example Bonds were, in essence, one population’s claim over the rest who paid they’re taxes. However, to find out the wealth’s ownership has been much complex as it is today in a world characterized by what Piketty refers to as â€Å"financial intermediation†. The existing financial system with the banks makes it complex to realize the ownership of wealth which is deposited by the common man and invested by the bank. Businesses then operated in similar ways as the present times with entrepreneurs founding startups and then offering stock options, earning capital gains, and investing some of it back into the business. The bottom line is that capital was an essential part of the society, beyond narrative stories, some of which operated as dynamic assets. By comparing the early businessman with the present system, the author has drawn many parallels in both the systems of capital and investment. With this Piketty (83) points out the risky nature of capital that has always been so at least in its early stages when it is also entrepreneurial in nature. The modern perception has it that capital has become more dynamic ever since the eighteenth century. The recorded literature from Britain and France provide the most information. It is observed that the capital-income ratio has remained stable between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for both Britain and France following a similar trend. This was followed by a sudden surge in the twentieth century which then returned to similar levels during the World War I (Picketty, 86). Hence, national capital which is the sum of private and public capital was defined as the sum of farmland, housing, other domestic capital, and net foreign capital (Piketty, 87). Foreign capital was extensively shaped by regional colonial powers and the variable played an important role in determining national capital. The most prominent changes have been the replacement of farmland while total capital