Comment by Thomas Piketty

When the rate of return on capital exceeds the rate of growth of output and income, capitalism automatically generates arbitrary and unsustainable inequalities that radically undermine the meritocratic values on which democratic societies are based. The past devours the future: wealth originating in the past automatically grows more rapidly, even without labor, than wealth stemming from work. Market forces and capitalism by themselves aren't sufficient to ensure the common good and to limit the concentration of wealth at levels that are compatible with democratic ideals. Unverified source (2013)