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Following Kuznets’ pioneering works, the growth-inequality nexus was stylised as an inverted U-shaped relation. As per that paradigm, economic inequality initially increases when a nation embarks upon a modern economic development process, but later on, declines as the development process cross a certain threshold. The paradigm roughly bears out the experience of the industrialised countries of Europe and North America from the beginning of the nineteenth century up to the mid-1970s. The inevitability of the pattern came under question when data from a broader range of countries became available by the 1970s. Then the post-globalisation experience of countries around the world virtually negated the falling part of Kuznets inverted U. Most countries which profited from globalisation in the form of upward shifts of their growth trajectories also experienced a rise rather than a decline in economic inequality. The present paper is a survey of the large and interesting literature on the changing nature of inequality before and after globalisation. The survey finds that inequality across countries has actually declined as a result of globalisation whereas inequalities within countries have almost invariably increased. Apart from usual factors such as bequest and skewed distributions of wealth, the new factors that have accentuated post-globalisation inequality are widening wage disparities, inequalities of opportunities, the onslaught of automation and rent-seeking activities of a section of the rich. The survey also notes how inequality has been moderated in some counties through effective taxes and transfer programmes. After summarising the arguments why growing economic inequality cannot be left unattended, the survey concludes with an outline of the policy choices which are being currently discussed in the academic and administrative circles.

Despite a large number of studies going into the issue of income and developmental disparities across states in India, the possibility of resource curse being at the root of some states persistently lagging in development has rarely been probed. The present paper is aimed at filling this void in the literature. Economic common sense and writing of some eminent development economists suggest that regions endowed with resources should be in the advantaged position to grow fast and develop quickly. In reality, however, regions endowed richly with natural resources have often tended to lag– a phenomenon that has given rise to the resource curse hypothesis. Countries/regions rich in natural resources can be cursed if the easy and abundant resource revenue breeds moral hazards causing institutional weaknesses that allow rent-seeking and other anti-developmental processes to flourish. In the Indian context, persistent lagging behind of the resource-rich states of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, and Bihar hints at resource curse casting a spell over these states. Using panel data on 17 major Indian states at decennial intervals from 1981 to 2011, evidence for probable resource curse has been explored while controlling for some common determinants of development. Results confirm evidence in support of resource curse dragging overall development attainment in most of the resource-rich states. On a positive note, however, it has been found that development attainment across India has advanced progressively, especially in the post-reform decades.

From its initial drafting to its eventual passage in the Indian Parliament and beyond, the National Food Security Bill has been extensively debated with a lot of animation by activists, economists, politicians and even corporate leaders. This article presents a brief summary of the debate in the backdrop of a discussion of the general issues related to food security and India's past record of food grain management. Since the Bill has now been turned into an Act, it is suggested that the focus of attention should now shift to its implementation mechanism and suitable measures to mitigate the apprehended undesirable consequences of the proposed nationwide food security programme.