Prosperity requires a massive shift of labour out of agriculture into industry and services. Agriculture accounts for barely 14% of GDP, but for over half all workers. The average farm size is below two hectares. Farmers simply cannot get prosperous […]
Lease land, don\’t acquire it Read More »
Prosperity requires a massive shift of labour out of agriculture into industry and services. Agriculture accounts for barely 14% of GDP, but for over half all workers. The average farm size is below two hectares. Farmers simply cannot get prosperous
Lease land, don\’t acquire it Read More »
The suspense is over. Pranab Mukherjee seems certain to become the next President. The UPA coalition lacks the votes to ensure victory, but Mulayam Singh Yadav of the SP and Mayawati of the BSP have both offered to back him.
Expect early LS elections next year Read More »
Should the United Nations intervene militarily in Syria, where President Assad’s bloody crackdown has killed thousands? Many foreign policy experts are keenly following this. By contrast, hardly any are following the coup and secessionism in Mali, the Saharan country in
Nato’s Libya war causes Mali crisis Read More »
The fall in India\’s GDP growth to just 6.5% in 2011-12 has caused much moaning and groaning, along with a search for silver linings. The silver linings most often highlighted are falling oil prices – which will reduce both the
Backward states growing fast, proving good economics can be good politics Read More »
GDP growth in the January-March quarter slumped to 5.3%, the lowest for nine years. The quarterly debacle dragged down annual GDP growth to 6.5% in 2011-12, lower even than the 6.9% achieved in the great recession year of 2008-09. Sundry
Wanted: a new social contract between business and politics Read More »
While discussing higher petrol prices, TV anchor Arnab Goswami asked why the middle class shouldn\’t get a big petrol subsidy when corporations got tax breaks of Rs 529,000 crore. He got this huge figure from an annual budget document calculating
Tax exemptions: it\’s not just the fat cats who benefit Read More »
While discussing higher petrol prices, TV anchor Arnab Goswami asked why the middle class shouldn\’t get a big petrol subsidy when corporations got tax breaks of Rs 529,000 crore. He got this huge figure from an annual budget document calculating
Tax exemptions: it\’s not just the fat cats who benefit Read More »
In March, I accepted a daunting assignment: to lecture college students in Pune on The Morality of Capitalism. Predictably, this produced many sniggers. Capitalists are crooks, I was told. They milk you for all they can get. They cheat you
Both democracy and capitalism give the freedom to choose between alternatives Read More »
Will the crash of the rupee to a record low of Rs 54.68 per dollar be a \”kick in the pants\”, to quote economist Arvind Subramanian, that finally forces the government to slash unwarranted subsidies and deepen reforms? Hopefully yes.
Falling rupee: a kick in the pants for Congress Read More »
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