governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Senior BJP leader Uma Bharati’s first reaction to the terrible news of the Chamoli glacier break/avalanche disaster on Sunday — “I told you so” – resonates with the reservations of all those who put a higher value on conservation than on the development of natural resources for economic growth. On Sunday, a part of the […]
Read More Playing with God’s worldThere is a fun-side to budgets beyond the dreary boredom of the data and pedantic truisms bandied about. The lightest side of the budget this year, were capital receipts from disinvestment (code for under-the-radar privatization) which at 85% below budget outclassed, for the “back bencher award”, revenue receipts, which only shrank – like cooked methi (Fenugreek)- to […]
Read More Budgetary #funstuff- “never befores” for 2022Despite receipts being 18% lower than even last year till November, largely because of the yawning gap against the aggressive budget estimate for disinvestment receipts (Rs 2,1 trillion), the Union government did well to spend almost 5% more than last year by enhancing borrowing. This is in the best traditions of trying to keep the […]
Read More Budget for hope, build resilient foundations“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 watersA decadal “look ahead,” even as geopolitical, technological and environmental disruptions push uncertainty to worrying levels, closely resembles a fool’s wager. The upside, however, is an even chance of getting it right, just like everyone else. DOMESTIC POLITICS — The silence of stability Our biggest challenges will emerge from domestic politics. The political threats are […]
Read More India till 2030- Testing the marginal utility of political stabilityAmitabh Kant the CEO of NITI Ayog got a taste of the underside of celebrity status when his remark on there being “too much democracy in India” created a social media storm of protest. Mr. Kant clarified subsequently that the news coverage had omitted the latter part of his sentence “……. for it to be […]
Read More Democratic overloadThe Union government has done well to resist being dragged into “bhed-chaal” (following the herd) by blowing up its fiscal balance beyond repair in the hope of a steep economic recovery. The case for continued fiscal rectitude The fiscal deficit (FD) is on track to increase to Rs 12.5 trillion this year. The expected GDP […]
Read More Fiscal rectitude flows from resilient revenuesThe win in Bihar for the BJP- JD(U) combine, presages continue strength to the NDA at the center and a potential spread across more states. This is a source of anxiety for those who miss the more lassiez faire approach of previous governments, where the “dharma of coalitions” restricted strong-arm action on any front. BJP […]
Read More Post Diwali sentiment boostersSouth Asians integrate the least with each other as a region. Joyeeta Bhattacharjee of ORF, who studies the region, puts it down to fear of Indian domination (India accounts for 80% of the combined GDP and 74% of the combined population), historical mistrust (a colonial legacy) and targeted terrorism (a recent innovation of war by […]
Read More Fracturing South Asia into actionNow that we all live in a real time world, courtesy the near ubiquitous digitization of our lives, government processes which share economic information with a lag, are irksome at best and superfluous at worst. Consider that the scheduled release today, of the official version of GDP destruction in Q1 of fiscal 2021 (April to […]
Read More Economic bites
Opinion India 