governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
The impossible export dream If carrying coal to Newcastle is folly, imagine selling premium Indian Single Malt whiskey in the UK, Europe, Canada, the United States and eventually in forty-four countries. This is the story of an intrepid Bengaluru business family, and their trusted employee Ashok Chokalingam who achieved the impossible. Their low-key lifestyle, punishing […]
Read More The Jagdales of Bengaluru Export Amrut ManiaIn 2024 the United States and the European Union together added 39 percent of global GDP (2015 $). China was second at 19 percent whilst India lagged at 3.5 percent. Together these four economies added 62 percent to global GDP. Incredible as it might seem, in the short span of thirty-six years, by 2060- within […]
Read More Can India replace China?Book Review: What went wrong with capitalism. Ruchir Sharma. Allen Lane 2024. This book is about an early love of the author– capitalism- and why it lost its magical efficiency by feeding voraciously on “easy money” willingly generated by governments and central banks to safeguard growth. Contemporary observers would shrug and say what is new? […]
Read More A capitalist’s lamentFinance Minister of India, Nimala Sitharaman is set to make history. Some, she has already made by being the first women to be Finance Minister (FM) if one excludes Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who held the finance portfolio in 1969. If all goes well, she will become the first FM to serve for more than […]
Read More If I were Nirmala SitharamanIndia is at an inflection point. Realizing our long dormant economic potential is happening faster than our institutions are adapting to the new challenges. Becoming the fastest growing large economy this year with an unanticipated GDP boost of around 0.7 percentage point above our long-term growth rate of 6.6 percent over the past three decades […]
Read More “Big Government” & “High Growth”in IndiaHigh growth generates the comfort of public unwillingness to look a gift horse in the mouth. When growth is more than double the global levels and the highest achieved by any comparator entity, there are even fewer quibbles. This is true for both startups and national economies. Both are subject to “analyst fog” about an […]
Read More Interim Budget 2024-25: Government a prisoner of over-reachIndia plans to be a “developed” economy by 2047 even as it navigates the economic disruptions of the energy transition. To achieve this goal, India needs consistently higher levels of growth in national income to enhance the pool of investible capital—a crucial input into development. High national income is a necessary but not a sufficient […]
Read More Aspirations must be backed by investments for the energy transitionThe government did well to publish the NITI Aayog Report on Multidimensional Poverty (2019-21), highlighting the decline in the poverty headcount from around 24.85 percent in 2015-16 to 14.96 percent in 2019–2021—showcasing a substantial fall from the earlier survey outcomes. Both are based on the data collected during the standardised National Health Status Reports for the […]
Read More Mapping India’s PoorThe good news that India’s GDP grew at 6.1 percent in Q4 (January to March 2023) and at 7.1 percent over the entire fiscal year (2022-23) received less than deserved attention. The previous fiscal year (2021-22) was the first post-covid normal year. To clock a growth rate of 7.1 percent over a normal base year […]
Read More Greenlighting GrowthMonetary policy that hunts with the advanced economy “hounds”—via symmetric upward adjustments in policy interest rates over the last year—and simultaneously runs with developing country “hares”—by desperately trying to revive stalling growth—has contradictions just waiting to come home to roost. That growth in India is stalling is clear from the RBI Monetary statement on 6 […]
Read More High Policy rates sans supporting fiscal policy cannot tame inflation
Opinion India 