The share of national income absorbed by corporate profits, a major component of capital’s share, is already rising sharply.

If anything, this means future inequality in the United States will be driven by two forces. A growing share of national income will go to the owners of capital. Of the remaining labor income, a growing share will also go to the top executives and highly compensated stars at the pinnacle of the earnings scale.

Is there a politically feasible antidote? Professor Piketty in a new book based on analyzing centuries of data notes that the standard recipe — education for all — is no match against the powerful forces driving inherited wealth ever higher.