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‘The right book at the right time’: Why a 700-page economics tome is #1 on Amazon

Every once in a while a book, movie or piece of theater captures the Zeitgeist so completely that its popularity soars. Thomas Piketty's new book Capital in the Twenty-First Century is the latest example, and an unlikely one, as it is a 700-page economics book.

Published just weeks ago in the U.S., the book is now the Number 1 bestseller on Amazon.com. (Its author is a professor of the Paris School of Economics and it was first published in France.)

The primary theme of "Capital" is that income inequality is growing and will continue to grow due to the structure of capitalism in the 21st century.

Related: U.S. inequality looks like Europe before WWI: Thomas Piketty

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James Pethokoukis, the money and politics columnist-blogger at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, tells The Daily Ticker that Piketty's book is "the right book at the right time," because it focuses on an issue that concerns many Americans.

Consider these statistics:

Related: Thomas Piketty's Rx for income inequality: "You don't need to go all the way to socialism"

"The concern is if you have one small slice of the population grabbing all the gains and stagnation for everybody else," says Pethokoukis in the video above. "We've seen some stagnation recently. It doesn't mean we're going to have it in the future, but I think it's something we're going to have to pay attention to."

He says even if you don't agree with Piketty there are still policies that should be adopted to make sure the French economist's bearish scenario doesn't play out, and which could also benefit the economy.

Related: Tax the rich more if inequality gets worse: Robert Shiller

Those policies, says Pethokoukis, should focus on increasing innovation, boosting employment and expanding the workforce, and enhancing education and job training skills.

Tell us what you think would help reduce inequality in America. And don't forget to follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook or Twitter @dailyticker.

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