governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
President Trump does himself no favours by going out of his way to be deviant, as he did whilst addressing the UN General Assembly yesterday. Odd that a billionaire, realty tycoon should need to resort to coarse behaviour to stroke up self-confidence. Put it down to the testosterone filled hubris of corporate American, male machismo […]
Read More Trump’s implicit advice to IndiaAmerica’s President Donald Trump is nearly halfway through his four-year term. This is when most occupants of the White House get edgy about their “legacy” — how would America remember them? It’s too expensive to launch a war and once launched even harder to bring it to an end. Making peace is a better option. […]
Read More US bringing China to heelOur style of governance remains “provincial”. Of course nothing wrong in that. The French, despite being the last word in art, films, fashion and style – and now fighter planes – exult in the provincial core of their culture. The dapper President Sarkozy first became a mayor of a charming French commune – through the […]
Read More Babus as default tycoonsRabindranath Tagore – India’s poet laureate’s prescription for healthy thinking was to open the doors and windows. The Union governments did quite the opposite, yesterday when it stuck its head into sand and came up with a desultory five-point plan to deal with the growing current account deficit (CAD) – the difference between our imports […]
Read More India’s external imbalance – hiding one’s head in the sand doesn’t helpToday we found the grandfatherly chief minister of Haryana Mohan Lal Khattar smiling at us out of a half-page advertisement, paid for by taxpayers, announcing an “unprecedented decision” of his government. From October 1, 2018 onwards, electricity customers consuming less than 500 kilowatt hours per month would pay between 16 to 47 per cent less […]
Read More Electric subsidy – Haryana’s burden of richesIn Britain, “buggery” between consenting adults became legal in 1967. Let me hasten to assure that I use the crude term “buggery” not to mock the LGBT community. This is the physical act, defined by its antiseptic moniker “voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, which was excised from Section 377 of the Indian […]
Read More #Gender & #sexuality norms #India 2018Retail prices of diesel and petrol are the lowest in Delhi, among India’s key metropolitan cities. It isn’t cheaper to supply them to the national capital than in Chennai, Mumbai or Kolkata. The difference is that Delhi and Goa levy lower value-added-tax on petroleum products (PP) than poorer jurisdictions, even though they are havens for […]
Read More Slash petroleum consumption
Opinion India 