Importance of The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a pivotal event in the history of capital. Up until this time, capital was held mainly in the forms of land and government bonds. With the advent of industrial machinery, capital became more dynamic than it had ever been prior. It now existed in the form of buildings, infrastructure, machines, and raw materials. After the this shift to industrial capital, Piketty observes that the share of land in the composition of capital drops off significantly in multiple different countries.