Inequality Financial News

Kevin Warsh’s nomination to succeed Jerome Powell as US Federal Reserve chair has triggered a predictable frenzy of speculation centred on a single, narrow question: How hard will he push for interest-rate cuts? While such conjecture may be entertaining, it misses the forest for the trees. To focus solely on rate cuts is to misunderstand the Fed’s situation and the scale of the challenge awaiting its next leader.Warsh inherits an institution that, by any historical measure, is deeply fractured internally and lacks credibility externally.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.There is a palpable fear among American workers that artificial intelligence (AI) is coming for their jobs. The answer to that fear, as I’ve argued, is to make job loss less scary by building a new unemployment programme. An overhaul is long overdue, and it would help not only a vulnerable labour market but also workers whose fears are realized.But would it be enough?AI job loss is not happening in a bubble.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It’s happening. California looks likely to put a ‘one-time’ tax of 5% on wealth above $1 billion on the ballot in November and polls suggest it could pass— despite opposition from some economists (not so surprising) and Democratic politicians (more so). Meanwhile, calls to tax the rich are resounding across the country, from New York’s proposed ‘pied-à-terre tax’ to Washington State’s first-ever income tax, imposed only on millionaires.As someone who has been arguing for more than a decade that these taxes are bad economics, I find all this disheartening.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The best business class flight I have ever taken was with Air India. As the flight was taxiing for take-off, it stopped on the tarmac. There was a snag, and we had to stay in the aircraft.

The dominant progressive argument in India calls for dismantling of caste through radical redistribution by means of land reforms, state intervention or revolutionary social restructuring. The argument is that ­the entrenched inequality of India’s caste system must be annihilated through political and economic levelling.However, this framework misses a counter-intuitive argument.

India stands at a crossroads as one of the fastest-growing large economies in the world, yet it also has among the highest levels of inequality, with little movement seen in recent years. On paper, India’s growth story remains strong even as global conditions are uncertain. According to the latest national accounts with a revised base year of 2022-23, India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.2% in 2023-24 and 7.1% in 2024-25.

As the India Meteorological Department warns of above- normal temperatures across much of India in the coming weeks, the country is once again preparing for a hotter summer. But for many Indians, rising heat is more than a seasonal forecast; it shapes everyday life.Climate change is no longer an abstract environmental challenge.

Now that Kevin Warsh has been nominated as the next chair of the US Federal Reserve Board, it is worth asking how different a Warsh Fed would be from the current one. President Donald Trump had made it clear that he wants a Fed chair who will push for lower policy rates to juice the US economy and support his broader agenda.

History is not a catalogue of inventions. It is a record of how societies adapt—or fail to adapt—to them.Every major technological revolution has followed a similar arc. First comes the breakthrough.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Budget 2026 arrives at a pivotal moment. With the Income Tax Act, 2025, set to take effect from 1 April 2026, this year’s Budget should focus less on headline-grabbing tax rate changes and more on ensuring a smooth transition to the new law.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. 2026 is a very significant year for India’s economy. The Union Budget will matter, of course, but the Eighth Pay Commission and the Sixteenth Finance Commission are the most consequential milestones to watch.

advertising. But its approach has had limited impact on India. Most of our focus continues to be on safer areas, such as gender, specifically women’s empowerment.

For decades, India has relied on its household consumption expenditure as the primary measure of welfare, poverty and inequality. While it is still important, it could be supplemented with new approaches that capture certain aspects of a rapidly transforming economy driven by technology and services in which households may have increasingly diversified sources of income.

In 1980, neither China nor India had much representation in the ‘global middle class’—people who neither belong to the bottom half of the income distribution nor rank among the top 10% worldwide. Almost a half-century later, things have changed—but in very different ways.

dowry system, a centuries-old practice in South Asia where a bride's family gives money, gifts, or property to the groom's family, continues to persist despite being outlawed in India. This tradition, often viewed as a burden on families and a source of gender inequality, has faced growing criticism in recent years. A viral wedding video on social media has offered a powerful example of how individuals are rejecting outdated customs and advocating for change.

Donald Trump has unveiled his latest tariffs, and they could have significant implications for your wallet, as per a report. President Trump's sweeping new tariffs, on top of previous levies and retaliation worldwide, are expected to increase prices for everyday items. The trade wars have already roiled financial markets and plunged businesses into uncertainty — all while economists warn of potentially weakened economic growth and heightened inequality, AP reported. Which impacts will be felt by consumers and workers first? And what can households do in the face of so much uncertainty? Here's what you need to know: Which consumer goods will be affected? The tariffs announced by Trump Wednesday, on top of other levies that are already in effect, tax imports from nearly all of America's trading partners. And U.S. shoppers currently rely on a lot of goods made abroad, as per a report.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In a recent talk at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, economist Sanjay Reddy noted a startling fact about India’s growth process. According to the International Monetary Fund, in 2024, India ranked 142nd out of approximately 190 countries, with a nominal per capita GDP of around $2,700.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will visit New Delhi on Tuesday to attend a wedding reception and will hold a meeting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates on March 19. Naidu will depart from Amaravati at 4 pm on Tuesday to attend the wedding reception of a family member of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

economic inequality through equitable redistribution, 'freebies' in the form of schemes have become a competitive tactic to secure votes, often at the expense of fiscal prudence. Take Maharashtra. The government's pre-poll giveaways have pushed state debt to a record ₹9.3 lakh cr, and widened revenue deficit to ₹45,891 cr for 2025-26.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s current traffic fine system enforces a uniform monetary penalty, regardless of an offender’s income. For example, a billionaire and a low-income individual may be fined ₹500 for the same violation.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Corporate India is riding a wave of record-breaking profits, but the tide isn’t lifting all boats. The Economic Survey 2024-25 reveals this stark reality.