governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Do Indian voters remain deeply aligned with caste, clan and community (read religious) interests, as reported in the ongoing state elections? Possibly, yes, they do. Continued allegiance to traditional identities makes sense, if new ones never had the chance to take root. Industrial work was one such silo-buster, as is urbanisation. Both, have had a […]
Read More New social compact : wooing the underdogsThe tricolour flutters happily at the Peer Makhdum Shah Dargah in Mahim, Maharashtra, hoisted by the peer’s devotees, as a symbol of the Indian Republic being alive and well. India is a Republic. But often it feels as though only the Union government must carry the can for doing unpleasant things – like levying tax […]
Read More Funding the RepublicThe embattled Finance Minister Arun Jaitley – clearly aware that the knives are out for him Finance minister Arun Jaitley will be fighting from a tight corner on February 1, 2017, boxed in by low domestic demand and the approaching international headwinds of a protectionist United States. Fighting on the backfoot is new to […]
Read More Red flags for FM JaitleyIn a welcome change of national focus, becoming rich is no longer enough unless the poor are taken along. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is very au fait with international headwinds, was prescient in his December 31 address. For the first time, it was not the youth, nor non-resident Indians, nor Hindus, that the PM […]
Read More Fiscal courage needed on Feb 1, 2017So, what is it about social media which gets sarkari types hyperventilating about their gripes and grouses? First, we have members of the para military forces seeking sympathy for the poor living conditions they suffer on duty. Next, we have a General, passed over for promotion, pedaling conspiracy theories around his being overlooked. To cap […]
Read More Public sector angstSome pictures may be worth a thousand words. But when the two are put together, as in a video, they evoke deep emotions and convey subliminal messages. Watch the master of the spoken word — Barack Obama, in his January 2016 address on the mundane subject of gun control in the United States and you […]
Read More Budget 2017 – say what you meanFinance Minister Jaitley thinking. The Election Commission has expectedly kicked the “postpone the budget” ball -rolled out by the opposition- to the government for comments by January 10. This is smart, because it offers the government an exit strategy from the ill-conceived plan to fast forward the budget to February 1 just two days […]
Read More Postpone budget 2017Times are tough. Exports are in free fall. The import bill is increasing as oil prices harden in response to the international oil cartel’s plans to cut production. Domestic demand is moribund despite the largesse of the Seventh Pay Commission for the public sector. The stock market has sagged. Informal sector jobs are under threat. […]
Read More Fiscal love for job lossPhoto credit: Kundan Srivastava A month has passed. Opinion is unanimous that demonetisation has failed as an instrument to end terror or black money. Brazen terror strikes continue. The shadow industry for converting black into white has perversely got a boost from a new business vertical — converting “old black” into “new black”. Worse still, […]
Read More Budget 2017 “pull in” black moneyShashi Tharoor’s latest book originated in a debate at Oxford on whether Britain should pay reparations to its erstwhile colonies. The YouTube clip of Tharoor systematically demolishing the opposition, his brilliance evident in the thrust and parry of debate, has been watched by more than three million viewers. But the author says he felt a […]
Read More Book review: Tharoor, An era of darkness
Opinion India 