The Economic Times

An urban employment guarantee scheme poses quite a few serious problems The government is reportedly considering an urban jobs scheme. Some economists hope this can be the start of an Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, analogous to the Mahatma Gandhi Rural […]

The future course of America — and the world — will be determined by past actions of the 46th US president Let Us Give the Donald His Due Many books on Donald Trump’s presidency in 2016-20 will lambast him for

In the US polls, the Democrat challenger can lose all ‘toss-up’ states and still win Let me throw caution to the winds and declare that Joe Biden will thrash Donald Trump in the US elections on November 3. Let me

The BJP government should uphold its own pledge to end ‘tax terrorism’ Both Indian businessmen and foreign investors have long complained of India’s ‘tax terrorism’. For Indian business, this refers to tax raids. For foreigners, it means unfair assessments and

GoI should scrap refinery expansion and switch to oil-to-chemicals technology The latest report from BP, the oil giant, warns that global oil demand is about to plateau and decline, creating huge excess refining capacity. Lesson for India: immediately junk current

State governments should crack down on social media on hate speech I once hailed the rise of the internet as democratising free speech, enabling ordinary voiceless people to be heard by millions. Alas, along with this empowerment has come the spread

India should acknowledge that the ‘new normal’ won’t be more than 5% GDP growth Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar Stock markets around the world are at record heights. With at least six vaccines undergoing clinical human trials, optimists believe at least

India’s ban on Chinese apps sends out the right signal. But a longer, ‘wider’-term strategy is needed Right & Wrong China Sanctions While opinions differ on why exactly China has intruded into Ladakh, India must stand up to Chinese aggression.

Already in a mega-recession, India needs a venture capitalist of last resort The government is focused on saving companies from Covid-induced death. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has acted swiftly as lender of last resort. It has mandated loan

Out of this Covid-19 disaster comes privatisation, and other reforms After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a₹20 trillion revival package, and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s elucidation of the measures in five instalments, the response was dismal. Sensex crashed by