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Every morning, when we turn the pages of the newspaper, we get a glimpse of a rather grim future. We read about the 54 bodies in the hospital in Ballia who succumbed during a heat wave; the Yamuna seemed to have avenged its neglect in the national capital. We read about the second straight year…
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Even a modest observer can’t miss the apparent contrast that my city, Kolkata, throws up. What one also can’t miss now are the construction smog, renovation work, and new buildings cropping up at every turn. Being a relatively affordable real estate market, post-pandemic optimism in Kolkata is soaring.
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India remains a low-middle-income country, and the bulk of the population ranks low compared to most countries in most indicators of conditions of life. Yet the country ranks third in the number of dollar billionaires, just behind the United States and China, which have significantly higher per capita incomes.
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It is now widely believed and agreed, especially in the post-Covid world, that fiscal policies can play an active role in promoting more equitable and sustainable growth.
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Political formations in India have generally come to accept the idea of economic transfers to the poor. The Congress made it a major plank in the recent Karnataka elections. Even the BJP, which favours transfers to the rich in the name of “development” and debunks transfers to the poor as “freebies”, engages in some “freebies”…
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In India, the proportion of indirect taxes far exceeds that of direct taxation (which has not crossed 10-11%), paid for by the poor.
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ILO’s World Social Protection Report shows that India spends 1.4 per cent of GDP as total expenditure on social protection.
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The fortunes of wealthy elites have also skyrocketed over the years, increasing the gap with the average Indian.
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Recently, after my talk on the current economic situation in India at a private university, I was asked, why those students should be concerned about inequality and poverty. I had raised these as major issues of concern. The university being a private one, the fees are high not only compared to the public universities but…
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Tax The Top 1% 