A contribution to the critique to Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

This article aims to evaluate the critique that Thomas Piketty addresses to Marx in his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. After an exposition of his main theses and a summary of the criticisms already made by Marxist authors, we evaluate his five main arguments: that Marx’s theory relies on the implicit hypothesis of zero productivity growth over the long run; that Marx constructed his theory to justify the political conclusions presented in The Communist Manifesto; that the empirical data contradicts his predictions; that Marx did not know how to use statistical data properly; and that the author did not explain the functioning of a communist society. The conclusion reached is that Piketty’s criticisms are inadequate in all their propositions.

Keywords
Thomas Piketty (1971-); Principle of Infinite Accumulation; Marxist Apocalypse