Is India’s investment climate truly improving? The ‘Doing Business 2017’ report of the World Bank shows India improving only marginally from 131st to 130th position among surveyed countries. Meanwhile the industry ministry’s ‘Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms 2015-16’ […]
Surveys mislead when firms control the investment climate Read More »
Sunil Khilnani’s book, The Idea of India, pictured India as transcending territory and reaching into the realms of ideals. Equally, ‘The Idea of Tata’ has long transcended mere corporate aims and aimed far higher. That idea has been eroding for
Cyrus Mistry’s ouster: Do we say goodbye Tata? Read More »
The US presidential election is still three weeks away, but nobody doubts that Hillary Clinton will thrash Donald Trump. Opinion polls put Hillary ahead by 5 to 11%, which is huge. Many US elections are won on margins of less
Women are saving US from Prez Trump Read More »
Delhi’s air pollution season is starting with the burning of rice stubble by farmers on lakhs of acres after the kharif harvest. It’s politically impossible to stop a traditional practice like burning through legal bans: farmers think they have a
How goats can clean Delhi’s dirty air Read More »
Global bonds are worth over $100 trillion, while global stocks are worth only $64 trillion. Daily bond trading is $700 billion against $200 billion for shares. Stock markets hog the limelight. But bond markets matter more. Danger: they have become
Central Banks in Wonderland: The Coming Bond Crash Read More »
Dear Donald Trump, You are running for US president with the slogan “Make America Great Again”. You are mobilizing poorly educated white Americans who used to have high, rising incomes in manufacturing jobs, but now feel stranded by automation and
How not to make America great again Read More »
The best form of attack is political theatre. It satisfies the bloodlust of enraged domestic audiences without causing serious military damage to the other side, thus limiting escalation. India’s supposed “surgical strike” on seven terrorist bases across the Line of
Surgical strikes are good theatre, but stop there Read More »
Three years ago, all emerging markets including India suffered a huge outflow of dollars. The US Federal Reserve gave notice of ending quantitative easing, leading eventually to higher US interest rates that would attract money from everywhere. The Sensex collapsed,
If the rupee drifts down, RBI should smile and do nothing Read More »
The Supreme Court has quashed the West Bengal government’s acquisition of land at Singur (later leased to Tata Motors), holding it was not for a “public purpose”. Lawyers had argued that “public purpose” did not apply to land acquired for
What Sanand tells us about land acquisition Read More »
A bountiful monsoon has led some analysts to hope for 8% GDP growth this year. Incremental reforms across many areas are improving the country’s economic foundations. Yet Modi must worry about his failure to create the job explosion he promised
Robots likely to worsen shortage of good jobs Read More »
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