Piketty's main assertion is that the leading driver of increased inequality in the developed world is the accumulation of wealth by those who are already wealthy, driven by a rate of return on capital that consistently exceeds the rate of GDP growth. Japan, however, has lower levels of inequality than almost every other developed country.
皮凯蒂的主要主张是，发达国家不平等性加剧的主要原因是“先富”群体的财富积累。他们的财富积累来自持续超出GDP增长率的资本回报率。但是，日本的不平等程度要低于几乎其他所有发达国家。事实上，尽管日本早已成为工业强国，但常常被称为世界上最成功的共产主义国家。