governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
As July turns into August and the second wave of covid mutants’ wanes, the temptation, after relentlessly fighting the havoc and mayhem of the last financial year, will be for government to enjoy a well-deserved rest. This would be a costly mistake. Now is the time for top decision makers to define a sustainable fiscal […]
Read More A direct-tax league table can energize revenue receipts across statesHow should government balance the interests of retail sellers whilst protecting the interests of consumers? Even handed legislation and transparent, market-based rules to kindle higher investment and growth, better employment opportunities and higher tax collection from trade would be the long-winded answer. Political economy shoulders out technical common sense Sadly, legislation, in democracies, is strongly […]
Read More Taming regulatory excess in retailTamil is an ancient language which jostles Sanskrit on antiquity but remains in vibrant, modern use. It is also a cultural identity. Post-Independence, in 1947, the erstwhile Madras Presidency became the Madras State within the Union of India. In 1956, its borders were redrawn to shed the non-Tamil speaking peripheral areas of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, […]
Read More Tamil Nadu needs an economic rebootIndian stock markets look like “mushroom rocks”, top-heavy and delicately balanced, just waiting to be tipped over by bad news, of which there is plenty. Investors, whose stocks are part of the ongoing bull-run starting February 2021, could not care less having gained Rs.11 trillion, since May 24. This bonanza of wealth accretion, for the […]
Read More The morality of stock marketsSometimes, as in the case of electricity, hacking through a tangle of pancaked, well-meaning policies seems like the only way. There are many challenges, including a split legislative mandate, between the Union and the states, for what should be an integrated, network industry. This leaves cities – even the largest growth drivers- completely divorced from […]
Read More Exorcise familiar ghosts in electricity supplyFinance Ministers have an uncanny way of figuring out what makes the fish bite and neutralizes the sceptics. Nicely rounded words in the budget speech – like phonetic “quick wins” – come in handy to send the roosters crowing a new Dawn. A three pronged paradigm shift in the budget? FM Sitharaman’s salad dressing for […]
Read More Budgetary provisions matter more than the speechOn the eve of the 2021-22 budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has clearly earned her spurs just two years into the job. A coordinated collection tax effort revives revenue receipts in Q3 Despite the economy being somewhere between 15 to 8% below last year’s level all through Q3 (October to December) this year, cumulative […]
Read More FM Sitharaman earns her spurs raising expectations sky high“When you are down and out, on the streets and evening falls hard”, say songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel, friends appear magically like a bridge across troubled waters. That is exactly what 2021 needs to be for the entire world today. A magical bridge across which lies a shinning, clean, healthy and happy […]
Read More 2021 – A bridge across troubled watersIndian Left Liberal intellectuals are letting their shallow ideological moorings show. They support the agricultural reforms initiated by the Union government, including the corporatization of agriculture. But they oppose letting big business own banks, reflecting the colonial disdain for “box-wallahs” (business). Yes, to agricultural reform, including corporatization Farmers in Punjab and Haryana — the “gold […]
Read More Big business owned banks -a Trojan Horse?One of the realizations, home-spun by Covid in India, is that there is value to “atmanirbharta” (ANB) or self-reliance – the capacity to march alone, if necessary. An admirable attribute except that “aloneness” creeps up silently on you like a habit, difficult to shake off. Looked at more cheerily, it is not so different from […]
Read More Marching alone
Opinion India 