Articles

When oil crossed $100/barrel in 2006, I championed mixing ethanol with petrol. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggested that ethanol, which has 60% of the calorific value of petrol, was competitive at a crude oil price of $70/barrel. So, mixing ethanol with petrol […]

It is now 10 years since the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) was enacted with fanfare to save India’s poor. India has just suffered two droughts in a row, so rural works are important to relieve rural

India’s exports have been declining for 13 months. To reverse the trend, the commerce ministry wants to exempt exporters in special economic zones (SEZs) from all corporate taxes, including the minimum alternative tax (MAT). This is a bad idea. It

Tribals are the poorest, most oppressed community. Maoists say revolution is the only way forward for them. That’s dead wrong. Last month I visited Dediapada taluka, Gujarat. Every tribal village there has tractors, hundreds of villagers have motorcycles, and the

An avalanche of dollars exiting China threatens to smother all emerging markets (EMs), including India, and cause a global recession. Almost $ 600 billion have exited China in the last six months, a mammoth $100 billion per month.This would have

I am Charlie. I am for free speech, even if it offends somebody. Indeed, free speech must necessarily offend somebody: speech that offends nobody can only be highly circumscribed. Obviously, free speech can be curtailed if it calls for violence

Mixing morality and taxation typically produces hypocrisy. The Subramanian Committee on the goods and services tax has proposed an ultra-high rate of 40 per cent for sinful goods, against the standard rate of 17-18 per cent. Naturally, the sin list