governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Khichdi – Risotto if you prefer the Italian version – is a traditional palliative for Delhi belly. But Delhi’s khichdi style political governance systems are guaranteed to give anybody the runs. So bad is the mess that it is difficult to find out who rules Delhi. The Delhi Government, a contender, appealed against orders of […]
Read More Who rules Delhi?The Indian middle class is a diverse set – professionals, public servants, skilled factory workers, the self-employed in the gig economy and smaller business folk who earn enough for daily needs, educate their children, access healthcare adequately and still have a surplus after consumption. High aspirations are what distinguish them from the hopelessness of the […]
Read More Show the middle class some loveMs Haley has been United States Ambassador to the United Nations since 2017 and was previously, the Republican Governor of South Carolina. She is in India right now on a goodwill mission at a time when “good-will” is not quite the flavour of the month between the US and India. Of course, a less than […]
Read More Nikki Haley – not one to get confusedThe great Mughals (16th to 18th century) found it more difficult to manage their extended zenanas than to conquer fractious Hindustani kingdoms. The insidious politicking and power struggles of the women in purdah are well known. Less well appreciated are the strength, stability and support that the zenana afforded to the emperor, as a […]
Read More India’s elite bureaucrats – unshakably resilientEvery passing day, America plays the truculent, ageing diva on the wane, whilst China exudes a quiet, confident gravitas. Their chosen global roles, however, do not reflect the fundamentals of either country. America is one of the few developed countries with a robust economy, relative to its overwhelming size. It grew smartly at an average […]
Read More India’s geopolitical choices till 2040The brouhaha over Mr Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Nagpur, as the chief guest at a valedictory function of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), foregrounds the stunted nature of politics in India. Politics is about reaching out First, consider the absurdity of the prevailing schoolboy notion of “team” spirit extending to a ban on supping […]
Read More Pranab da mimics Atal jiPiyush Goyal, the interim finance minister, will need to be a lucky general if he is to overcome the triple challenge of widening trade and fiscal deficits and lacklustre private investment. Exports – India’s achilles heel Despite our comparative advantage of cheap, skilled labour and entrepreneurial zeal, export pessimism is endemic — unlike in China. […]
Read More Follow the money to tackle the fiscal perfect stormThe latest oil shock — an increase from $69 (average Indian import price) to $80 per barrel (Brent) this week — is courtesy the American President, Donald Trump, who unilaterally pulled the United States out of the 2015 deal between Iran and the UN’s Permanent Five (US, UK, Russia, France, China) plus Germany. This spooked […]
Read More Oil shock: Entry point for reformThree themes undergird the author’s exhaustive narrative of the politics around foreign aid in India between 1950 and 1975, during the early years of the Cold War — the people who made key decisions; the domestic context and, finally, the geopolitical incentives that shaped donor responses. The deal makers Indian officials come across as being surprisingly […]
Read More Book Review: Paying the price for aidThe tea leaves, following the Karnataka elections, are as muddied as they were before it — a hung House, a history of unstable coalitions and in your face examples of money power and shabby politics all around. Modi government a bell-weather for fiscal management The BJP not getting a majority has spooked the financial markets. […]
Read More What Karnataka foretells
Opinion India 