governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Fifty-one countries have legislated a publicly financed Independent Fiscal Institution (IFI) to provide unbiased analysis of public spending, forecast the economic outcomes thereof and review government performance versus fiscal rules (targets) to improve fiscal and financial stability. Supreme audit institutions (like the Comptroller and Auditor General in India) do this regularly ex post facto and […]
Read More A Fiscal Council for IndiaBook Review The Connections World: The future of Asian Capitalism Author: Simon Commander & Saul Estrin Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pages: 253 Price: £74.99 The “Asia” that this book addresses spreads northwards across the Pacific Ocean from Indonesia till the borders of China, North Korea and Japan and westwards to Pakistan on the Indian Ocean, […]
Read More Saving Asia from Stalling GrowthBetween spending and saving, governments are generally better at the former. High growth comes with the advantage that government revenue expands and gets spent, as is happening this fiscal. But this is also habit forming. If growth tapers down – as is expected in FY 2024- cutting back government spending will be politically rocky just […]
Read More Fiscal Options for Budget 2023-24The dissenting, minority judgement of Supreme Court Justice Nagarathna, in the Writ Petition Vivek Narayan Sharma versus Union of India—popularly known as the demonetisation case—has regurgitated the vexed issue of whether the RBI is sufficiently autonomous and resilient in discharging its mandate. India is new to autonomous regulation. Autonomous regulators were a rarity till the […]
Read More Supreme Court Demonetisation Verdit & rBI’s autonomy2020 was the year of fear as COVID-19 decimated the economy and killed people–both rich and poor– seemingly. 2021 was the year of hope. The bite of the pandemic dulled, thanks to the massive vaccination program, ramped-up emergency medical facilities and the roll-out of special social protection measures like free cereals for 800 million citizens. […]
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Opinion India 