governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Deal making in banking is returning after a gap of four years. Banking, not the retail stuff but the kind which gets the economy moving, is classically done through deals struck over convivial lunches and dinners. It’s tough to make deals in an environment of zero tolerance for corruption Stung by the proclivity of the […]
Read More Deal making is back-at last!The government accounts for Q1 (April to June) of fiscal 2021 give hope that the governments nuanced stance on Covid 19 management which emerged post the initial panicked lock down in March, is working. Fiscal crunch in Q1 In April and May revenue receipts were at rock bottom (30% and 25% respectively of revenue receipts […]
Read More The approaching fiscal stormSouth Asia and specifically India, can learn much from the European Union (EU). Similar despite the income gap This is despite the income dissimilarities. South Asia with a per capita GDP of current $1960 is low-middle income, at best. The EU with a per capita GDP of current $34,843 is high income. Also, Europe is […]
Read More Pulling South Asia togetherThe myth of a dominant center and weak states in India is long enduring. Some of this is wish fulfillment by national elites since it reinforces their own centrality, as Delhi based movers and shakers. How granular is the “post planning”economy? The “planned” economy approach, which ended in 2014 with the Modi government, also played […]
Read More Sorry StatesSkepticism in India about gas, as a reliable energy source, derives from our compulsion to import incremental consumption. Chronic trade deficits, the philosophy of self-sufficiency, which prevailed till economic liberalization in 1991-92 and vast reserves of domestic coal militate against enhancing gas dependence. Limiting import dependence is not just an Indian quirk We are not […]
Read More India’s clean energy sweepstakesEconomic downturns are cruel. They impose traumatic disruptions in incomes and lives – salary cuts, extended long leave without pay, outright job loss, drying up of business income or bankruptcy. The cash crunch for government is at crisis levels The government is no different. Revenue receipt of the Union government in May (Rs 0.17 trillion) […]
Read More Fiscal murmursThere are three reasons why governments, like humans, act irrationally rather than the rational economic agents they are supposed to be. My time is up First, if governments perceive that their time in office is limited there is nothing to be lost by dropping all restraints and doing whatever they wish to – a daring […]
Read More Check the Emperor’s healthThe Modi government has its near-term challenges well defined – containing China, Covid and Congress in the order they are presented. The Congress bogey Of these, the last seems the most doable. The Congress lingers primarily because Indians are habituated to hedge their bets and have a back-up plan. Never put all your eggs in […]
Read More Containing the 3Cs- China, Covid and CongressAlt-Right strategic opinion is convinced that the assertion of incremental claims over the upper reaches of the Galwan river valley in Ladakh reflects the habitual greediness of China which “nibbles away” at borders in a near continuous expansion of territory. In doing so it also constantly tests the limits to which it can push the […]
Read More Neighborly discord in the Galwan valleyPhotographs of quixotic, colorful, bustling markets, cheek by jowl crowds of buyers and shops, a profusion of color and a staggering variety of goods are standard fare in tourism advertisements for India. Sadly, however, when it comes to the market for public services, the offerings are bland. More generally India exhibits deep anxieties about letting […]
Read More Bringing markets back into the conversation