英51:“Income disparities are partly the result of unequal pay for work and partly of much larger inequalities in income from capital,which are themselves a consequence of the extreme concentration of wealth.”
中051:“收入差距主要由两个原因造成:一是劳动收入的不平等;二是资本收入的不平等,而这正是财富极端集中的后果。”
似是:“收入差距悬殊的一个原因是劳动收入的不平等;另一个原因是资本收入的更大的不平等,而这本身就是财富极端集中的后果。”
所以,研究不平等首先就要研究资本存量在社会中的重要性,而且要能够度量这个“资本的重要性”。要度量,关键是选择适当的“度量单位”,皮凯蒂选择一个国家的年度收入流量作为这样的单位,定义了 β=“capital/income ratio(资本/收入比)”:
英51:“The capital/income ratio for the country as a whole tells us nothing about inequalities within the country. But β does measure the overall importance of capital in a society, so analyzing this ratio is a necessary first step in the study of inequality. ”
中052:“一个国家的资本/收入比并不能反映国家内部收入不平等的情况,但是 β值还是可以衡量一个社会总资本的重要性。”
资本/收入比也可以作为资本的各个组成部分,例如National capital (private + public),Private capital,Public capital,inherited wealth 等的重要性的度量。
英401:“In an aging society, heirs come into their inheritances later in life but inherit larger amounts (at least for those who inherit anything),so the overall importance of inherited wealth remains unchanged.22”
中412:“在老龄化社会中,遗产继承者在继承时的平均年龄会拉大,但其继承的财富量却在增加(...),因此遗产继承对于财富依然重要”
这里谈的是在老龄化社会中继承的财富(资本)的重要性是否有变化,不是“遗产继承对于财富”是否依然重要!,所以,似是:“在老龄化社会中,...,因此继承的财富的总体重要性保持不变。”