governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman crafted the budget around four key targets of accelerating growth, promoting inclusive development, enhancing private investment, uplifting household sentiments including by income tax reform to enhance income in the pockets of middle-class consumers- those earning up to Rs 1.2 million a year, who account for over 80 percent of the total […]
Read More Budget 2025: Scorecard of Hits & MissesHow is “Tipping Point” – a phrase heard most often in the context of climate change relevant for the 2025 budget in India? It becomes relevant in the context of India’s long-term goal of becoming a developed economy (Viksit Bharat) by 2047. If India fails to achieve the required growth during the intervening twenty-two years, […]
Read More India’s “Tipping Point” Budget 2025Will India get rich before it turns 100? A reality check Author: Prosenjit Datta Publisher: Aleph Pages: 138 Price: Rs 499 Economic treatises, says Prosenjit Datta, a distinguished Indian editor and business journalist, can be frustratingly obtuse and reader unfriendly. This attractively written book is anything but. It packs a punch despite being deceptively slim, […]
Read More Book Review: Can India be Rich at 100?Debt 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 SustainableOne doesn’t quite know what it takes to win a Sveriges Riksbank Prize — instituted in 2006 in Memory of Alfred Nobel — in the Economic Sciences category. The three winners this year, of which two are also co-authors of a book – “Good Economics for Hard Times” 2019 are the ones best placed to […]
Read More Saving the world from below – Nobel Prize winners Banerjee- DufloThe Reserve Bank’s decision to transfer Rs 1.76 trillion to the government as surplus follows the “golden mean” principle, often used by committees. This bonanza comes courtesy an “Expert Committee to Review the Extant Economic Capital” of the RBI, constituted in November 2018, which has now recommended a higher level of transfer as against the […]
Read More RBI plays White Knight to revenue strapped governmentThe Union Budget proposal for a Sovereign Bond by India in the international markets might have come a cropper along with its “sherpa”, Subhash Garg, our former finance secretary. Why the rush? It was never apparent why the government chose to announce in the Budget speech this year, out of the blue, almost as […]
Read More Sovereign Bond Issue in “thanda basta”It’s a terrible time to be a minister in the Union government. The economy is tanking under the weight of debt funded public expenditure and low private investment due to the lacklustre consumer demand. Private corporate headline growth is low on the back of low capacity utilisation, which hits government tax revenues adversely and casts […]
Read More Modi 2.0: Time for frugal good governanceThe recent statistical dogfight around job creation, using data as ammunition was between NITI Aayog, intent on proving that there is no slow-down in job creation or more accurately productive work and the CMIE convinced that there has been a net job loss during the Modi years, with no give on either side. Empowered elites […]
Read More The common sense on jobsToday we found the grandfatherly chief minister of Haryana Mohan Lal Khattar smiling at us out of a half-page advertisement, paid for by taxpayers, announcing an “unprecedented decision” of his government. From October 1, 2018 onwards, electricity customers consuming less than 500 kilowatt hours per month would pay between 16 to 47 per cent less […]
Read More Electric subsidy – Haryana’s burden of riches
Opinion India 