Blunting inequality

India needs reforms that increase opportunities for the poor

A new research paper by Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty, titled “Income inequality, 1922-2014: From British Raj to Billionaire Raj?”, says that the share of national income accruing to the top 1 per cent income earners is now at its highest level since the creation of the Indian income tax in 1922. In other words, the current income inequality in the country is worse than what it was before Independence. But the trend of inequality has not been consistent. As the paper found, the top 1 per cent of earners accounted for less than 21 per cent of total income