governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
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 governanceSo hotly are the elections being contested that it is easy to forget the real life challenges awaiting the new government. Challenges come in three buckets — institutional; policy design and uncertainties from external and domestic shocks. Poor policy choices are easily reversed, institutional change happens slowly while shocks can neither be forecast nor fully […]
Read More Bitter morning-after pill awaiting new governmentRahul Gandhi’s electoral silver bullet to numb the BJP into relative disarray is a mega welfare scheme to transfer Rs 72,000 to each of the 50 million or 20 per cent of the poorest households. It costs Rs 3.6 trillion or 1.8 per cent of GDP. Mine versus yours The motivation is political – to […]
Read More Nyay (Justice) yes! But at what cost?If Marwaris and Banias could fund our Freedom Struggle why not heritage preservation?
Read More Are Marwaris taking over our heritage monuments?Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), was once the gold standard for “light touch” regulation, in stark contrast to electricity regulators, who continue today, to be stuck in byzantine rate of return regulation and administering cross subsidy between classes of users. TRAI loses industry focus TRAI has changed since. Consider that on November 29 it […]
Read More TRAI should junk net neutralityBOOK REVIEW India Transformed 25 years of Economic Reforms Rakesh Mohan – edited Penguin Viking 670 pages; Rs 999 Curating 31 essays into a story on India’s economic reforms can be a giant yawn. But Rakesh Mohan, a videshi economist and a veteran of four major government committee reports, is up to the challenge. THE PLUMBING WHICH […]
Read More Well begun is half donePhoto credit: Zee news Ask any of the 68 government departments in New Delhi, what they are doing about private sector jobs, and each will point at the other for an answer. The truth is that governments have not been held accountable for job creation since the 1980s, when neo-liberalism took root. No one advocates […]
Read More Needed paychecks not pink slipsNITI vision 2032 : foggy, disjointed & barely hanging together Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief ministers of states spent most of Sunday deliberating over the plans and prospects for India in the next 15 years to 2031-32. The third governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog seems to have been an underwhelming affair, […]
Read More NITI’s vision 2032 disappointsWhen it comes to winning elections, the sophistication and efficiency of the BJP political machinery is unmatched. Of course, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma provides the base, which the party leverages, to ensure that their individual candidates win. So what does this historic win — pulling in an unprecedented 77 per cent of the seats […]
Read More Change UP to change IndiaThe 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 Republic