Social ossification is killing India’s economic growthChina made good on its economic shift, but India’s economy has stagnatedBY Andy Mukherjee / Bloomberg OpinionIn 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 percent worldwide. China became the factory to the world; India became its back office. To unpack this puzzle, start with Indians who are outside the middle class. A stunted middle class might be a direct result of this extreme inequality. An unambitious elite spoiled by finance — plus a working class held back by inadequate education and inequities of caste and gender — are stymying the emergence of a global middle class in India.

Source: Taipei Times December 21, 2025 16:26 UTC