governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Growth is slowing in India. In July to September this year there were six major economies- Malaysia, Greece, Philippines, Israel, Colombia, Argentina (The Economist December 1) with growth higher than the 6.3 percent India achieved in the April to September quarter of this fiscal. Growth by year end is unlikely to be vastly different. Is […]
Read More Indian Economy between A Rock and A Hard spaceEconomic decision makers face a problem. They make tradeoffs between alternative solutions but very few are win-win. Most involve optimizing for economic harm against benefits. Sadly, quantifying tradeoffs remains captive to data and computing constraints in these pre-quantum computing times. The fallback is to rely on gut instincts, ideology, or copycat solutions- none of which […]
Read More India: Taming inflation without hurting growthThe Reserve Bank of India-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) brewed a storm in a teacup by continuing its accommodative monetary policy stance—retaining the Repo rate (the cost of borrowing from the RBI) at 4 percent and the Reverse Repo (the cost of depositing funds with the RBI) at 3.35 percent. The MPC is a device, initiated in […]
Read More Storm in India’s monetary tea cupThe RBIs decision to hold the repo-rate (the administered rate at which the RBI lends money to banks) at 5.15 per cent for the second time in four months, mirrors the timidity of the Finance Minister in the budget proposals presented for FY 2021. Both are twins born of the same mother of policy paralysis […]
Read More RBI chickens out of stoking growthThe faux London clouds and cold plaguing Delhi over the past two months lifted and bright sunlight came tumbling through today with the arrival of the Brazilian President– lifting spirits around. Part of the lift was triggered by the enervating sight of the young men and this time loads of young women in uniform, who […]
Read More Republic Day 2020 – A turning point?Since the government no longer leaks information to the press on what is about to happen, it is tough to figure out whether the unanimous decision to hold the repo rate (the bank rate) at 5.15 per cent by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on December 6 has the Union government’s blessings. Maybe this is […]
Read More RBI Gov Shakti Das does a U turnNothing makes Diwali sparkle more than the comforting bulge of spare cash in one’s pocket. This year there are few who could claim that privilege. Suffering in tandem are the unfortunates who catch the trickle lower downstream. Body blows to carefree spending have taken their toll. The combined effect of the Goods and Services Tax, […]
Read More Deepawali depression unwarrantedThe 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 reform(photo credit: dailymail.uk.co) February is when the Indian Finance Minister (FM) gets flooded with unsolicited help from well-wishers on how to get his job done of presenting the Union government’s annual budget on the 28th. This time, the flood is a Tsunami as a consequence of the Delhi state assembly electoral debacle for the BJP […]
Read More The budget of small things(photo credit: http://www.dnaindia.com) A cold Republic Day had FM Jaitley looking dapper under his stylish cap as he snuggled into his overcoat on a rain lashed Rajpath munched nuts and broodingly watched the parade go past. PM MODI’s OFF-SWING Was he fleshing out what he would say in his budget speech to the Indian […]
Read More Budget 2015: Swap higher outlays for efficient spending
Opinion India 