governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Economic 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 conversationElectricity is at the core of a digitized India. The digital world was brought home to the average citizen via liberalization of telecom in 1995. A near universal shift from low access in fixed telephony to near universal mobile connectivity for 1 trillion adults, including net connectivity for two thirds, illustrates the impressive results achieved […]
Read More Sculpting new age power utilitiesMacho men have a subliminal attachment to the V shape because that is what they are supposed to look like. No coincidence then that virility is also spelt with a V. The sad truth is that a V shape does not come naturally. It is the consequence of lots of grunt work to sculpt away […]
Read More Chasing a V shaped recoveryLooking up, from the bottom, our woes seem never ending however calmly reassuring be the top-down messaging. Ending this dichotomy in perception can only help. First, part the veils which shroud facts. We are in a medium-term downturn at best and a short recession at worst. Some recent eco history – Slowing economic growth not […]
Read More Keep our economic ammo dryPolitics is heating up. Elections in Bihar loom in November with Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu* and West Bengal tightly packed together in May next year, just after the FY 2021-22 budget. Bihar remains rural at heart. Luckily for the BJP, agriculture is the bright star in the Indian economy with expected growth of 3%. Doesn’t […]
Read More The price of fiscal exuberanceIt is difficult not to eulogize the lonely migrant worker trudging his way home on deserted locked-down highways and sometimes not reaching his destination. Some of this is guilt because of the economic and physical hardships they are suffering. They have tugged at heart strings by risking death or injury just to get back to […]
Read More The migrant as folk hero