It turns out the rich really do get richer. While many pundits and policy makers devote time to quibbling with the thesis of Thomas Piketty, who claims that capitalism does have an internal law tending to plutocracy, news from India suggests that smart money should be placed on the readers who made the French economist’s “Capital in the 21st Century” a best seller.

The European Central Bank’s Governing Councilheld its October meeting in Naples, making it worthwhile to consider the city’s unusual contributions to monetary policy in the past.

Once again, Italy’s balance of trade shows a growing surplus with the rest of the world. In July, Italy posted a trade surplus of €6.9 billion, up from €6.0 billion in July 2013, according to Istat’s official data.