Archive · 17 Dec 2025
Rising Inequality Distorts Indian Society
Mohan Guruswamy talks about how income inequality is growing in India and around the world.
He mentions a book by Thomas Piketty that says the return on capital is growing faster than the economy, which leads to more inequality.
This means that a small group of people, often those who inherit wealth, are getting richer while others are not.
Guruswamy also talks about how the education system in India creates unequal opportunities.
He says that the institutions and policies in society determine these outcomes, not just the economy.
He also discusses how the ideas of Karl Marx and Thomas Piketty differ, with Piketty focusing more on the role of institutions and ideology.
The article ends by asking what can be done to address these issues.
Thomas Piketty's book highlights that return on capital (R) is greater than economic growth (G), leading to income inequality.
In the past two decades, 73% of economic growth has been cornered by just 1% of the population.
Most of the wealthy today are inheritors who further accentuate income inequality and concentrate political power.
Piketty argues that inequality is driven by human institutions and dominant ideologies, not just economic factors.
India's educational system has three parallel streams with vastly unequal outcomes, contributing to societal inequality.
- Who
- Mohan Guruswamy, Thomas Piketty, Karl Marx
- What
- Analysis of rising income inequality and its societal impacts
- When
- Present day, with historical context
- Where
- India, with global references
- Why
- To understand the causes and effects of income inequality
- Author
- Mohan Guruswamy
- Book Discussed
- Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty
- Key Proposition
- R > G (Return on capital > Economic growth)
- Income Inequality
- 73% of growth cornered by 1% of population (Oxfam)
- Educational Streams in India
- Three parallel streams with unequal outcomes
- Piketty's New Book
- Capital and Ideology
- Marx's View
- Class position determines consciousness
- Piketty's View
- Inequality is ideological and political