Swaminomics
Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar
Microfinance — the banks of the future?
Aug 1st
The Reserve Bank of India is preparing a discussion paper on new banks. Meanwhile, SKS Microfinance, India’s largest microfinance institution (MFI), has just raised a whopping Rs 1,600 crore through a public offering. SKS and other MFIs could evolve into banks. Bangladesh’s microfinance pioneer, Grameen Bank, is a regular bank. The RBI severely restricts bank More >
Disasters sow seeds of success
Jul 28th
Great disasters occur constantly. The Asian financial crisis blasted the miracle economies of Asia. The Great Recession of 2007-09 led to the bankruptcy/rescue of the five top investment banks on Wall Street, the biggest bank (Citibank), the biggest insurance company (AIG), the biggest auto manufacturer (General Motors) and the biggest mortgage underwriters (Fannie Mae and More >
CSR can cloak irresponsibility
Jul 25th
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has long been a hot topic globally. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has lectured companies on it. Some corporations have won acclaim and awards for CSR. Two of them were BP, the oil giant, and Goldman Sachs, the big investment bank. But BP has just created the greatest environmental disaster in history More >
Why grain traders will love Sonia
Jul 18th
Sonia Gandhi has approved the National Food Security Act. This aims to deliver 35 kg of grain per month at Rs 3 per kg to every family in the 200 poorest districts, extend this as feasible to other districts, and provide 25 kg per month to families that aren’t poor. This is supposed to help More >
Climategate: Beyond inquiry panels
Jul 14th
Two British committees, one Dutch committee and a US Senate committee have investigated Climategate — the disclosure from emails that scientists at the Climate Research Unit (CRU) of East Anglia University sought to withhold data from and sabotage research publications of other scientists questioning the conventional wisdom on global warming. The first three committees gave More >
RIL should bid to take over BP
Jul 11th
The share price of British Petroleum, the fourth largest company in the world, has halved after causing the greatest environmental disaster in history. Its out-of-control Macondo well is spewing thousands of barrels of oil daily into the Gulf of Mexico, killing birds and sea life and ruining tourist beaches and the livelihoods of fishermen. It More >
Europe could still suffer a meltdown
Jul 4th
For those who think the Great Recession is over, I have disturbing news. I asked a top Wall Street manager last week what the chances were of a full-blooded European financial crisis. He replied, “100 per cent.” In February, the Greek fiscal crisis sent Indian markets crashing. This was the beginning of a European crisis More >
Ill-informed debate on oil decontrol
Jun 30th
The government has finally hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG, though by less than recommended by the Kirit Parikh Committee. It has decontrolled petrol , and hopes to decontrol diesel in due course. But its timidity suggests that price controls will return if global oil prices shoot up again. Financial TV channels had More >
Hills show way forward for tribals
Jun 27th
So you think that Indian tribals are utterly downtrodden, oppressed and bypassed by national economic development? You think activists are right to view Maoist insurgency as a tribal blessing and the only way forward for such an oppressed group? Think again. No less than 17.1% of tribals own colour TVs, 46.6% have bicycles, 20% have More >
Selling family silver to fund profligacy
Jun 20th
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is smiling. He had hoped to get Rs 35,000 crore from auctions of spectrum to telecom companies for 3G and broadband wireless access. In fact, the auctions fetched a whopping Rs 106,000 crore. Thanks to this bonanza, government sources claim that the fiscal deficit will now be only 4.5% of GDP, More >
Inflation as a solution for Europe
Jun 16th
Earlier this year, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard suggested that countries should raise their inflation targets from a typical 2% per year to 4%. His suggestion was greeted with hoots of derision. Yet in a world where there are no good solutions to the European debt crisis, inflation could be the best of bad alternatives. More >
Mumbai’s rail toll tops Bhopal
Jun 13th
An outpouring of anger and passion has greeted the conviction of seven former Union Carbide officials for negligence in the Bhopal gas disaster. This caused the immediate death of 3,787 people, and the ultimate death of 15,000 to 20,000 people whose lungs were corroded by the gas. If this anger and passion results in greater More >
Iran pipeline will be Pakistan’s Enron
Jun 6th
Swaminomics declared last week that India must forget the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline because of the outrageously high cost of Iranian gas. Some readers have asked, “Why is Pakistan willing to pay the Iranian price, and go ahead with the project minus India?” Answer: The pipeline is going to become Pakistan’s Enron. It will drive More >
Shale gas transforms geopolitics, energy
Jun 2nd
The Indian government remains asleep to the revolutionary potential of shale gas, which promises to revolutionise both the world energy scene and global geopolitics. Russia, Iran and Opec are going to be greatly weakened, while the US, Europe and China will be greatly strengthened. India can be a major beneficiary. First, shale is a common More >
Shale gas, not Iran pipeline, our energy hope
May 30th
External affairs minister S M Krishna visited Tehran in mid-May and said India was still interested in the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, but expressed reservations on security grounds. However, there is now a more important economic reason to oppose the pipeline. The IPI gas price has become ridiculously high in the light of new More >
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