As the death toll keeps rising, it seems certain that the tsunami on December 26 killed more than the 140,000 who died at Hiroshima. A search for culprits has begun, but is misdirected. The real culprit is nature. Ecologists have […]
Tsunami: the road to extinction Read More »
Historically, growth in developing economies has been led by industry, minerals or agriculture. The only exceptions have been small island economies that are tourism-led. India is the first major developing economy to become services-led, with services outpacing industry and agriculture.
Return of manufacturing? Read More »
I used to ardently support rural employment schemes to reduce poverty. I saw their huge value in droughts, injecting purchasing power into areas hit by income loss. But experience then showed me that such schemes have little long-run impact on
Poverty reduction by helicopter Read More »
Table: Latest Balance of Payments data ($ billion) Apr-June 2003 Apr-June 2004 Exports(goods) 13.2 16.8 Imports(goods) 18.7 23.1 Invisible exports 11.0 17.7 Software 2.7 3.5 Other miscellaneous 0.9 4.6 Private transfers 4.9
Invisibles overtake visible exports Read More »
The first six months of Manmohan Singh\’s rule have produced no significant improvement in the quality of politics. But have they produced improved economic policy? Not really. Stock market fears that the government would be captured by the Left Front
Continuity, with a populist tilt Read More »
How do we sum up Manmohan Singh\’s first six months as Prime Minister? Lots of words and little concrete action. His one clear strategy seems to be a single-minded focus on surviving for a full five-year term, and if this
Six months of timid waffle Read More »
For decades, I have been among the most scathing critics of Nehruvian socialism, which deformed our intellectual and economic development for four decades after independence. Initially, this criticism was regarded as blasphemy. Today, it has become close to conventional wisdom.
Second coming of Jawaharlal Nehru Read More »
Many critics think that India\’s breakthrough in information technology (IT) is an elite phenomenon benefiting just a few cities. But I see IT becoming an unanticipated solution to a deep problem: growing regional disparities. Traditional remedies — more cash and
IT can reduce regional disparities Read More »
A month ago, the US pharma giant Merck withdrew its best-selling drug rofecoxib (sold under the brand name Vioxx) after tests proved that it doubled the chances of heart attacks, and perhaps strokes. Many US buyers of the drug plan
How to become a millionaire Read More »
Revised balance of payments data in the RBI Bulletin for October suggest that India’s external strength is even greater than believed earlier. The data contain some puzzles: India is overflowing with dollars for reasons still poorly understood. See the
Three kinds of dollar avalanches Read More »
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