Thomas Piketty is a French economist best known for his work on wealth and income inequality. His influential book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, published in 2013, analyzes historical data on wealth distribution and argues that economic inequality is a growing problem in modern societies. Piketty emphasizes the importance of progressive taxation to address these disparities. Piketty's research has sparked widespread debate among policymakers and economists. He co-founded the World Inequality Lab, which aims to provide data and analysis on global inequality trends. His work has made significant contributions to the understanding of economic systems and their impact on social equity.