governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
It is a measure of the randomness of the policy changes in the United States that the left hand no longer knows what the right is doing or more appropriately neither of its two right hands know what the other is up to. Working at cross purposes Consider that Elon Musk, reportedly working overtime, sleeps […]
Read More Trump’s DOGE & “Reciprocal Tariffs”: Different StrokesThe big question is does Budget 2025 help India step onto the path to Viksit Bharat by 2047? If high, inclusive growth is the surest way to reach that goal, the Finance Minister’s proposals for 2025-26 generally point in the right direction. But that is not saying much. Has reform by stealth reached the end […]
Read More Budget 2025: Slow turn towards Viksit BharatFinance 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 2025India 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 WorldTarmac to Towers: The India Infrastructure Story Pratap Padode 2024 Westland Business 373 pages Rs 799/- Pratap Rodode is a financial journalist and publisher of Construction Update, a magazine launched in 1996, followed by Infrastructure Today, Power Today and Project Reporter. This book comes favorably pre-reviewed by industry veterans Nandan Nilekani, founder Chairman, UIDAI, S.N. […]
Read More Book Review: India’s infra journey: Growth & GapsDebt 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 SustainableDr Manmohan Singh breathed his last on December 26, 2024. Finance Minister of India 1991-1996 and Prime Minister of India from 2004-2014 he was cremated on December 28. Four attributes distinguish Dr Manmohan Singh (India’s thirteenth Prime Minister (2004 to 2014) from his predecessors and his sole successor- Narendra Modi. A bureaucrat and a politician […]
Read More Doctor Sahib: An uncommon PMUplifting tailwinds, inspired by personal chemistry, boosted America-India friendship to unprecedented levels in the public imagination, via two never-before joint, public events – “Howdy Modi” in Houston, 2019 when Modi called the 2020 US election for Trump. The resultant bond of friendship was sealed by “Namaste Trump” in Ahmedabad, India early in 2020. But it […]
Read More HuM Do Aur Woh: America, INDIA & ChinaInstitutions in India are characterized by “short termism”- privileging near term results over long term trends and objectives. In Haryana, the transitory distancing of the electorate from the BJP, after two terms, was interpreted by pollsters to mean victory for the Congress, wrongly, giving more weight to sentiment than to the potential for gaming a […]
Read More Look beyond the fog of “short- term” results.
Opinion India 