a French economist, who suggested (based in part on his own data-gathering) that the rate of return on capital was typically higher than the growth rate of the economy. 这位法国经济学家（部分是基于他自己的收据收集）指出，资本回报率通常高于经济提的增长率。

　　As a consequence, the stock of wealth should grow over time relative to GDP. 因此，相对于GDP，财富存量应当随时间而增长。

　　And because wealth is less evenly distributed than income, this growth should push the economy towards ever higher levels of inequality. 同时，由于财富比收入是被较少地被分配的。

　　Mr Piketty summed up this contention in the pithy expression “r > g”. 这种增长应当将经济体推向更高水平的不平等。皮克迪将这一论点总结在了精炼的表达式“r>g”之中。

　　In fact, that may understate the case, according to the newly gathered figures. 实际上，根据新收集的数据，这一表达式或许对实际情况有所低估。

　　In most times and places, “r”, which the authors calculate as the average return across all assets, both safe and risky, is well above “g” or GDP growth. 在大多数时期和大多数地区，作者作为横跨所有资产——无论是安全的还是有风险的——的平均回报来计算的r是远远高于g ——即GDP增长——的。

　　Since 1870, they reckon, the average real return on wealth has been about 6% a year whereas real GDP growth has been roughly 3% a year on average. 他们推测，自1870年以来，财富的平均实际回报在每年6%左右，而实际的GDP增长大致为年均3%。

　　Only during the first and second world wars did rates of return drop much below growth rates. 只有在第一次和第二次世界大战期间，回报率才远远跌至增长率之下。

　　And in recent decades, the “great compression” in incomes and wealth that followed the world wars has come undone, as asset returns persistently outstrip the growth of the economy. 同时，在最近几十年间，世界大战之后的收入和财富方面的“大压缩”已经随着财产回报持续地跑赢经济增长而自行消失了。

　　In such ways does the painstaking collection of data fundamentally reshape understanding of the way economies work. 耗费精力的数据收集就是以这种方式，从根本上重塑了有关经济体运作方式的理解。

　　It is a shame that data-gathering does not carry higher status within the profession. 数据收集没在这一行中占据更高的地位是一种耻辱。

　　It would raise the status of economics itself. 它会提高经济学本身的地位。