Swaminomics
Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar
Budget 2012: Measures Pranab Mukherjee should take to increase revenue and cut spending
Feb 6th
The logic of the electoral cycle points unambiguously to a tough budget with stiff taxes, curbs on populist spending, and an emphasis on controlling a runaway fiscal deficit. The next general election is due in May 2014. Hence there will be no full budget in February 2014, just a vote on account. So, the last More >
Time to end West’s farm subsidy as a condition for funding European bailouts
Feb 1st
The IMF wants to increase its lending capacity by $1 trillion, to rescue distressed countries in the eurozone plus those hit by aftershocks from the eurozone. But US is struggling with fiscal problems of its own, Japan now has the highest debt/GDP ratio in the world (over 200%), and Europe is moving into an austerity More >
Falling stock market makes India more equal. Does it matter?
Jan 29th
Critics say rising inequalities in India are sparking mass resentment and Maoist insurrection. Really? Tribals in the Maoist belt certainly hate those who are growing rich by exploiting them. But do tribals know or care about Mukesh Ambani, the richest Indian? Tribals are surely outraged by differences in power and income between them and the More >
Is premature English making India a super-dunce?
Jan 22nd
In the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) international competition for children’s learning, India came 72nd out of 73 countries. The Annual Status of Education Report (Aser 2011) reveals that the proportion of Class 5 children able to read a Class 2 text has fallen from 53.7% in 2010 to 48.2% in 2011. The proportion More >
Eurozone: Fiscal or trade crisis?
Jan 18th
Most people think of the eurozone crisis as a fiscal crisis. They see the southern European countries collectively called the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) with huge debt/GDP ratios or huge fiscal deficits that look unsustainable, and require rescues by prudent northern Europeans. This is true, but masks a much bigger picture. This More >
Jarawas are human beings… just like us
Jan 15th
Newspapers and TV anchors are waxing indignant about a video showing the tribal Jarawas of the Andaman Islands dancing for tourists in exchange for food and trinkets. Many NGOs are demanding closure of the road used by tourists to enter Jarawa territory, and are outraged by what they call “human safaris.” Most want the Jarawas More >
Maya’s re-election chances boosted with 7% growth
Jan 8th
Globally, a country is called a miracle economy if it attains 7% GDP growth. The latest member of the 7% growth club is, surprisingly, Uttar Pradesh. This should matter in the coming state election. UP has long been regarded as incurably feudal, caste-bound and incapable of fast growth. With a population of 200 million, it More >
Danger is Lokpal may go Bofors way
Jan 1st
Everybody fights over nobody’s Bill. That headline sums up the fiasco over the Lokpal Bill. In outraged tones, the Congress accuses the BJP of sabotaging both the Constitutional amendment in the Lok Sabha and the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP expresses equal outrage at the Congress’ ‘phoney’ bill seeking a powerless Lokpal. More >
Strong Lokpal, weak judiciary recipe for failure
Dec 25th
Anna Hazare has threatened a fast and “fill jails” movement to persuade Parliament to place the Central Bureau of Investigation under the new anti-corruption Lokpal. He says a Lokpal without an investigative wing is toothless. The government replies that the anti-corruption branch of the CBI can be supervised by the Lokpal in cases referred to More >
India should not fritter away PSU profits from commodity boom
Dec 21st
Slowing tax revenue and rising government spending on food security and universal health threaten to send the fiscal deficit skyrocketing next year. To check this, many experts want to raid the surpluses of public sector undertakings (PSUs). These surpluses have ballooned thanks to a global commodity boom hugely benefiting mineral-producing PSUs, such as ONGC, Coal More >
Why IIP’s -5.1% industry slump doesn’t make sense
Dec 18th
Government data is often dismissed as too good to be true. But the October data for industrial production, minus 5.1% overall and minus 6% for manufacturing, is too bad to be true. Either it will be revised upward substantially, or turn out to be a statistical blip. It is simply not compatible with an economy More >
The crash of rupee is crash of confidence
Dec 18th
The rupee has crashed from Rs 45 to Rs 54 to the dollar, before recovering slightly to Rs 52.80 on Friday. Dismayed corporations and politicians want the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to intervene in currency markets and prop up the rupee. This would be a terrible mistake. The rupee’s fall is not a technical More >
Online shopping is the real threat to small shopkeepers
Dec 11th
Faced with opposition from its own allies like Mamata Banerjee, the government has shelved its proposal to allow Walmart and other multibrand foreign retailers to have majority stakes in Indian hypermarkets. Critics have accepted the bogus claim that foreign retailers will kill small Indian shopkeepers. In fact, the Walmart model is a 20th century concept More >
December 9 European Union Summit: Solution to the eurozone crisis or a fudge?
Dec 7th
The 27 countries of the EU will hold a summit on December 9 in what has been called the last chance to solve the eurozone financial crisis. However, in politics, ‘last chances’ are rarely final. The eurozone has already gone through at least four rescue packages, initially hailed as final solutions but later exposed as More >
Aam bania is more powerful than the aam aadmi
Dec 4th
Last week, 50 million shopkeepers and traders staged a bandh against the government decision to allow 51% foreign investment in multi-brand retail chains. What this actually proved was the hollowness of the claim of small shopkeepers to be weak underlings representing the unorganized sector. The 50 million traders on strike exceeded India’s entire organized labour More >
Recent Comments