A capital's capital : two hundred years of wealth and inequality in Paris /

A study of the changes in wealth and its distribution in nineteenth and twentieth-century Paris that maps the interplay between wealth, inequality, and welfare Successful economies sustain capital accumulation across generations, and capital accumulation leads to large increases in private wealth.

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Postel-Vinay, Gilles (Author), Rosenthal, Jean-Laurent (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2026.
©2026
Series:Princeton economic history of the Western world.
Subjects:
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction: Wealth and Inequality in the Long Run
  • 1. Dukes and Indigents: Inequality in the Shadow of the Old Régime, 1807-1867
  • 2. Belle Époque Capitalism, 1852-1912
  • 3. The Laboratory Evolves: Progressive Taxation, 1901-1972
  • 4. The Collapse of Wealth, 1912-1947
  • 5. Inequality When Wealth Collapses, 1912-1947
  • 6. Recovery, 1947-1977
  • 7. Capital and the Family: Inherited Wealth, 1822-1972
  • 8. Wealth at the Top
  • 9. The Myth of the Grasshopper and the Ant
  • 10. Inequality in Space: Within Paris and Beyond
  • 11. Inequality Beyond Wealth
  • Conclusion: Capital and Capitals in the Long Run
  • Appendix 1: The Datasets
  • Appendix 2: The Data from Estate Tax Filings
  • Appendix 3: Progressive Taxation
  • Appendix 4: Deportation and Wealth Distribution
  • Appendix 5: Reported and Capitalized Inheritance
  • Appendix 6: The Top Wealth Holders Each Year
  • Notes
  • References
  • Index.