Critics of globalisation have long claimed that the West controls the world financial system and uses this to help Western multinationals to dominate the world. Think again. In the first nine months of 2006, Indian companies have made foreign acquisitions […]
Global finance for Indian takeovers Read More »
Some conspiracy theorists will have you believe that everything in the Middle East is about oil, including the US invasion of Iraq. But the fact is that, three years after the invasion, the Americans have not acquired any Iraqi oilfield.
The Shia-Sunni battle for oil Read More »
For decades, I have argued that police independence and reform are crucial for governance. Public order is intrinsically political and must be handled by the Home minister. But crime detection and prosecution should not be political, and should be done
One and a half cheers for police reform Read More »
Laloo Yadav, who as Chief Minister presided over 15 years of economic and social stagnation in Bihar, is suddenly being lionised as a management guru. As Railway Minister, has transformed Railway finances and performance. The middle class remains shocked that
Laloo Yadav’s demographic dividend Read More »
Politically, the world changed irrevocably on 9/11. Yet from an economic viewpoint 9/11 could be called the day when hardly anything changed. Predictions of economic apocalypse proved laughable wrong. India is averaging 8% GDP growth for the fourth year in
Eat now, or wait for the cease-fire? Read More »
Industrialisation has displaced millions of people and spawned terrible rehabilitation failures. Fresh in public memory is the death of 13 tribals at Kalinganagar, Orissa, resisting displacement by Tata Steel. The problem will worsen as industrialisation deepens. Recently 150 Special Economic
How not to Displace People Read More »
The pesticides-in-cola saga continues. The Health Ministry\’s expert committee says Coke and Pepsi are safe, and has trashed the testing methodology of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the NGO that claimed to have found pesticide in colas up to
Milk is more Dangerous than Cola Read More »
Surprisingly, the dust may soon settle on the pesticides-in-cola issue. Sunita Narain of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said on Friday that she agreed with this newspaper’s editorial line, that cola drinks should not be banned but should be
Colas: The Media are Guilty too Read More »
When economic reforms began 15 years ago, I expected a new division of labour, with the public sector and private sector each focusing on what it did best. The government, I believed, would focus on law and justice, a second
Government Failure, Private Sector Rescue Read More »
Governance matters for economic reform. This was the theme of a lecture by Prof Pranab Bardhan, University of California, at the annual India Policy Forum on Monday organised by NCAER and Brookings. Clearly, good governance aids growth. But in India
Paradox: Falling Governance, Rising Growth. Read More »
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