governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
2020 was the year of fear as COVID-19 decimated the economy and killed people–both rich and poor– seemingly. 2021 was the year of hope. The bite of the pandemic dulled, thanks to the massive vaccination program, ramped-up emergency medical facilities and the roll-out of special social protection measures like free cereals for 800 million citizens. […]
Read More India vignettes from 2022 and beyondThe 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?(photo credit: http://www.firstpost.com) Imagine if FM Jaitley had admitted in his budget speech of February 28 that of the Rs 17.77 lakh crores (US$ 287 billion) of expenditure he was tabling in Parliament, less than one third was really available for innovating on the past trends and the bulk of the funds relate to liabilities […]
Read More FM Jaitley’s conundrum: Fat wallet but empty pockets(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 thingsBabus are looking forward to another bonanza, courtesy the 7th Pay Commission, which the previous government constituted just before demitting office. The armed forces, always better organized, are first off-the-mark with an earmarked Pay Cell already created, headed by a two star General, to lobby for better terms and conditions. Other Unions and Associations will […]
Read More Why spend more on babus? 7th Pay CommissionDivisive economics is worse than divisive politics. Proponents of Urbanization are the loudest proponents of economic divisiveness. The vision they subscribe to is of shinning cities connected by corridors of gold, glittering like diamonds in a waste land of the rest of Bharat. Their justification is that the rest of the World has adopted this […]
Read More Myopic Urbanization
Opinion India 