governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
India has a budgeting problem, like any other middle-class household. Aspirations are larger than means, possibly, driven by the doubtful glory of being the fourth largest economy and politically primed, by future expectations of becoming a “developed” country by 2047. Coddled by obliging import tariffs, clunky private corporates are risk averse and the financial sector […]
Read More Sane Budgeting for a Crazy WorldDebt Sustainability of Subnational Governments in India Author: Hari Krishna Dwivedi Publisher: OUP Pages: 256 Price: Rs 1,162 Worrying about the debt sustainability of subnational governments (SNGs or state governments in India) is an acquired taste even amongst financial analysts. In the hands of an experienced professional, like the author — a distinguished civil servant, […]
Read More BOOK Review: Making debt SustainableFinance 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 SitharamanBetween spending and saving, governments are generally better at the former. High growth comes with the advantage that government revenue expands and gets spent, as is happening this fiscal. But this is also habit forming. If growth tapers down – as is expected in FY 2024- cutting back government spending will be politically rocky just […]
Read More Fiscal Options for Budget 2023-24Now 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 bitesWho can imagine the demons in a person’s mind which push him to end his life? Nor can one be privy to the dull pain of the inevitable, unnecessary guilt, in the minds of family and friends — whether doing something different could have prevented it. The pull of family pride Remember the 2018 Rajkumar […]
Read More Coffee King buckles(photo credit: http://www.gettyimages.com) For the small, timid investor and retirees, Provident Funds and Postal Savings were the investment vehicles of choice till 2000. Interest rate liberalization resulted in a progressive decrease in interest levels on long term deposits from 12% to 8.5% per annum. The reform was sensible. Government could not afford to subsidize the […]
Read More Winning Aged Votes via Budget 2015
Opinion India 