Swaminomics

Economists have, for over a month, had an internet debate on growth and social spending. It started with the Financial Times citing Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen as saying it would be “stupid” to focus on double-digit GDP growth without spending more on social sectors. The newspaper also cited Jagdish Bhagwati, a potential Nobel Laureate, as More >

The Cabinet reshuffle last week led to profuse but mostly vacuous analysis on TV. Many analysts claimed the reshuffle aimed to influence the 2014 parliamentary elections. Some opined that the coming state election in Uttar Pradesh was a major consideration: three ministers from that state had been given Cabinet rank. Many others expressed dismay that More >

What’s India’s position in the world as we enter a new decade? In 1990, India was seen as a bottomless pit for foreign aid, holding world records in starvation and poverty. India tried to project itself as a Third World leader, but at international conferences other developing countries saw India mainly as an expert drafter More >

Corruption booms when perverse incentives reward rather than penalize it. We need institutional changes to end those perverse incentives. I hope 2010 will go down as the year when an angry electorate finally obliged politicians to stop treating politics as a lucrative, tax-free profession. Scams like illegal mining, the Adarsh cooperative society, Commonwealth Games and More >

Many say that fast GDP growth has benefited only a few rich businessmen. That’s simply false. The latest data and research show that record GDP growth has benefited the masses and the poorest states. Poverty has fallen sharply and the poorest states have increased growth amazingly. That’s one reason so many incumbent governments in poor More >

Having gone to college in the 1960s, I belong to the Beatles generation.Last week, we mourned John Lennon on his 30th death anniversary. How the Beatles lit up our lives in the 1960s! Lennon’s “Imagine” has been voted the greatest song of the 20th century. Both liberal globalizers and Marxists claim Lennon as one of More >

Governments should govern. When misgovernance is exposed, as in the 2G spectrum scam, remedial action should follow. Yet we are seeing theatre parading as principle. A rowdy opposition has paralyzed the current Lok Sabha session. Opposition parties insist that they will let the Lok Sabha function only if a joint parliamentary committee is appointed to More >

When I was checking in for a flight in New Zealand last week, the whole airport stopped work and observed a two-minute silence in remembrance of 29 coal miners who had just lost their lives. The tragedy had dominated television for weeks. Sorrow and shared pain were etched on faces round the airport, including those More >

Journalists covering Bihar’s long assembly election campaign are almost unanimous that Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) will be re-elected. Let me add my voice to the chorus. Nitish very much looks a winner and the opposition—led by the once-formidable Lalu Prasad —looks in bad shape. Lalu can justly claim that, after decades of upper caste oppression, he More >

Euphoria over President Obama`s support has led some Indians to believe that India will soon become a permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC). Others say Obama has offered a ticket to the UNSC contingent on India paying a ticket fee: it must support the US position on Iran and Myanmar. Wrong, and wrong More >