Selfish rich inequality hypothesis: The selfishness and graft of the rich drive inequality 

News: In recent days, a ‘Selfish Rich Inequality Hypothesis’ has been proposed based on an analysis of the Gallup World Poll of 2018. 

What is the selfish rich inequality hypothesis?

It says that, whether the rich are richer than the poor because they have been more selfish in life than the latter.  

What are the causes of this selfish rich inequality? 

The issues of selfishness, criminality and corruption aggravate inequality. In other words, the rich have become richer in those countries, where institutions are weak, rule of law is weak, bureaucracy is malfunctioning and corruption is rampant.  

In another way, in such countries, the rich have been involved in selfish grabbing  

What are the pieces of evidence in support of the selfish rich inequality hypothesis?

As per the study, the respondent who were more aged in nature firmly believed in this rich inequality hypothesis.  

In more affluent states, where higher income inequality prevails, more respondents believe in the inequality hypothesis.  

In the affluent states having a high incidence of crime (measured as the number of convictions per lakh of the population) in, most respondents corroborated the rich inequality hypothesis.  

The respondents in States which are more corrupt and display greater extreme inequality are more likely to believe in the corruption of the rich and thus corroborate the hypothesis in question. For example, most respondents believed that the rich get richer through illegal, grabbing activities (rich traders, for example, evade local taxes by bribing officials). 

In terms of the principal (voters)–agent (public institutions in a State including the State government, judiciary and the police) relationship. The relationship is determined by the overall state of political and economic environment conditions. If there is a lack of confidence in the agent, it is difficult to sustain growth, and maintain accountability and transparency. For example, minorities are prone to be more humiliated, assaulted and killed, and there would be allegations of promoting crony capitalism.  

Consequences of non-inclusive growth: If growth is not inclusive, it engenders resentment against the rich. Further, it builds a strong belief in the hypothesis in question. 

What should be done to avoid selfish rich inequality? 

In countries conforming to the selfish rich inequality, there is a broad agreement that inequality in their country is unfair and that the government should aim to reduce it.  There is a need to strengthen public institutions in India in the present context.

Source: The post is based on an article “The selfishness and graft of the rich drive inequality” published in “The Hindu” on 1st July 2022.