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Interviews | Prof. Jean Dreze, academician and social activist, interviewed by Anil Varghese (Forward Press)
Prof. Jean Dreze, academician and social activist, interviewed by Anil Varghese (Forward Press)

Prof. Jean Dreze, academician and social activist, interviewed by Anil Varghese (Forward Press)

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published Published on Dec 17, 2021   modified Modified on Dec 18, 2021

-Forward Press

An email interview with one of the foremost development economists against the backdrop of the latest report of the World Inequality Lab describing India as one of the most unequal countries in the world

The World Inequality Lab has just published the World Inequality Report 2022. The Paris-based organization, which is directed by top economists, including Thomas Piketty, has painted a grim picture of the inequality in India based on income and wealth distribution, women’s share of the total labour income and carbon footprint. Economist Prof Jean Drèze has travelled extensively in rural India and studied meticulously both society and workings of public institutions. A visiting professor at Ranchi University, Ranchi, Jharkhand, and an honorary professor at the Delhi School of Economics, Drèze answers FORWARD Press’ questions on the social realities behind India’s economic inequality.  

* According to the World Inequality Report 2022, India is one of the most unequal countries in the world. Do you agree? 

Certainly. In fact, it may be the most unequal country in the world, if you consider social as well as economic inequalities. The Report focuses on inequalities of income and wealth, but India also has to contend with extreme inequalities of caste and gender. Inequalities of class, caste and gender tend to reinforce each other. The result is a very oppressive social system that possibly has no counterpart elsewhere in the world.

* If you look at the wealth distribution from 1995 onwards, you will see that a steep climb among the top 10 per cent began around 2007 and a decline among the bottom 50 per cent began around the same time. You resigned as a member of the National Advisory Council in 2005. Did you foresee government policies aiding such an increase in wealth disparity in the years that followed?

I doubt that the data are precise enough to conclude that there was an inflection point around 2007. What we do know with some confidence is that there was a sharp increase in economic inequality in the post-liberalization period. That was reasonably clear by 2005, but my exit from the National Advisory Council had little to do with it.

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Forward Press, 17 December, 2021, https://www.forwardpress.in/2021/12/prof-jean-dreze-resisting-a-caste-census-is-like-refusing-a-medical-examination-when-you-are-ill/


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