Statisticians are not crooks. But their methodologies do need to change Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar The government has junked the 2017-18 National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) consumption survey which, accordingly to a leaked report, showed total consumption declining by 3.7% […]
Counting Correctly Counts Read More »
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected in 2014 on an anti-corruption platform from which he told voters, “Main na khaoonga na khane doonga.” Translation: I will neither eat (take bribes) nor allow others to eat. After the scam-ridden years of
How BJP is fast becoming like Congress in graft Read More »
When Narendra Modi was re-elected, optimists expected GDP growth to accelerate to 8%. Alas, it is plummeting towards 4%, having fallen steadily in the last four quarters — 7%, 6.8%, 5.6% and 5%. Expect a further fall to almost 4%
Sliding economy needs serious structural fixes Read More »
People lie in surveys. Which is why India needs a new methodology to gather data A leaked National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey says India’s consumption fell 3.7% between 2011-12 and 2017-18, rural consumption fell 8.8%, and rural food consumption crashed
Truth Be Told and Collected Read More »
Has the Supreme Court, long praised for independence and fearlessness, suffered some erosion of its tough impartial image, and allowed itself to be seen tilting towards BJP? This question will inevitably arise after four successive Supreme Court judgments in the
SC should not only be impartial but seen to be so Read More »
Indian exports have grown very little since 2013. No economy in the world has had GDP growth of 7% for a long period — the definition of a miracle economy — without double-digit export growth. Hence, the recent fall in
Do Not Hold Your Breath Read More »
The stock markets think the government might abolish the dividend distribution tax (DDT) and let all dividends be taxed as plain additional income. Right now DDT plus cess and surcharge is around 20%. People earning dividends above Rs 10 lakh
India needs taxes high enough for revenue growth, low enough for investments Read More »
Dear Abhijit Banerjee, Congrats on winning the Nobel Prize. In a recent interview, you castigated economic journalists like me for ignoring economic evidence and lauding the recent cut in corporate tax rates. To combat inequality, you want to soak the
Sorry Abhijit Banerjee, high taxes and freebies don’t create egalitarian utopia Read More »
India needs to expand its drone strategy, and have a major production programme Last month, Saudi Arabia was hit by an attack on its oilprocessing facilities by drones and cruise missiles, probably made by Iran. The damage was quickly repaired,
What Dronacharya Wants Read More »
All Indians are delighted that Abhijit Banerjee, along with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, has won the Nobel Prize for Economics for creating a new field of experimental economics — randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Drug authorities in all countries insist
And the Nobel Prize goes to… experimental economics Read More »
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