The world currently has 3,442 billionaires, which is a new world record, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2025. The current number of billionaires is 163 more than the last year. What will make more sense to this article is the total number of billionaires in India at this point. As per the Hurun list, India has 284 billionaires, which is 13 more than the last year. India ranks third in the number of billionaires.
India is currently the 5th largest economy globally, but economists aren’t gloomy about it. Despite the positives, India’s economy also has some negative aspects, which can’t be ignored.
Despite being the world’s 5th-largest economy, India’s GDP per capita is quite on the grey side, ranking 124th globally, as per the Forbes, at $11.94 thousand. Some estimates projected even worse, with India standing at 140th rank out of 194 economies in 2025, in terms of nominal GDP per capita. India is ranked 105th out of 127 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2024.
Moreover, a UN report showed that India is among the top five countries in the world with the largest populations in poverty. India’s contribution constitutes 40% of the slight upward adjustment in the global poverty rate, moving from 23.6% to 24.1%, when measured at $3.65 per day, as per the definition of the World Bank. However, India’s poverty has declined over the year, but it’s not much a thing to celebrate.
India showcases a striking disparity between wealth and poverty. On one hand, the country has the third-highest number of billionaires globally, while on the other hand, a staggering 3.44 crore people still live in extreme poverty. This upside trend of income disparity has definitely something to do with trickle-down economic theory.
What Is Trickle-Down Economics, And Is It Dangerous?
Trickle-down economics theory suggest that giving tax reliefs and benefits to the wealthy and businesses will boost economic growth. The theory proposes that increased wealth in the hands of the wealthy will lead to investments, job creation, and increased spending in the economy.
A study done by the researchers of London School of Economics and King’s College, London lay waste to the theory. The study took note of the data of the past 50 years in advanced economies and found that cutting taxes for the rich has increased inequality but didn’t significantly boost jobs or economic growth. Hence, nothing trickled down, but the rich have become far richer. Trickle-down economics has negatively impacted the advanced economies over the years, including the US.
Is India Heading Towards Such Theory?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed the idea of “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance”, since 2014. In 2019, he pushed for reducing the role of the government in the economy and his government came up with a historic corporate tax cut. It was the ramparts of the Red Fort in 2019, when PM Modi asked the public to recognise, encourage, and give more respect to the wealth creators of the nation, during his Independence Day speech.
PM was of the idea that if wealth is not created, then it cannot be distributed, and if it is not distributed, then the poor can’t be uplifted. This is quite in line with the theory of trickle-down economics. However, this year’s Budget bought a little relief for the middle class as the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the tax exemptions for the incomes of up to Rs 12 lakhs per annum (Rs 12.75 lakhs for salaried employees with Rs 75,000 as standard deductions).
US President Donald Trump, a “friend” of Prime Minister Modi, also support policies aligned with trickle-down economics. In January 2025, EY predicted that Trump’s second term will focus on extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, lowering corporate tax rates and promoting on-shoring.
The Historic US Congress Speech
Joe Biden, first joint address to the US Congress as the President of the United States was quite remarkable. Unlike PM Modi’s “minimum government, maximum governance” policy, Biden stressed on the policy of “more government”. The idea of “more government” was in contrast to what the US has believed since the time of President Reagan.
Biden’s speech was historic and must be listened. He was of the view that few things can only be brought to the light by the government. In this sequence, he announced an eight-year-long American Jobs Plan, which was the largest job plan since World War II.
Biden believed that public schools and colleges opened the doors of opportunity for the US. Scientific achievements took the US to the moon. He iterated that only the government was in a position to make these investments. Biden remarked that with the slogans of minimum government, governments actually try to free themselves from accountability and distance themselves from issues like employment and infrastructure.
He emphasized that America’s growth is rooted in its middle class and labour unions. Biden advocated for policies that benefit the working class, including increasing the minimum wage and giving equal pay to women.
Conclusion
In his remarkable speech, Biden contrasted the idea of the so-called trickle-down economics. In my view, India is heading towards the trickle-down economic policies, but this theory has caused deep wounds in the advanced economies like the UK and the US. It’s clearly a time to introspect.
