The Economic Times

It would be unwise to expect too much from President Obama’s coming visit to India. Indians were delighted when Obama became the first black President of the US. Yet, we are now obliged to be more sober. Indians instinctively tend […]

It would be unwise to expect too much from President Obama’s coming visit to India. Indians were delighted when Obama became the first black President of the US. Yet, we are now obliged to be more sober. Indians instinctively tend

Should lending rates of microfinance institutions (MFIs) — often 28-36 % — be capped? Some folk think so. Officials in Andhra Pradesh once closed down MFIs for usury, but the RBI came to the rescue, declaring there could be no

Dear Anil Agarwal, The Indian media are agog you are set to overtake Mukesh Ambani as India\’s biggest corporate promoter. You have made a massive $9.6 billion bid for 60% of Cairn India, which produces oil in Rajasthan and few

No less than 93% of Chinese businessmen say the main reason for their spectacular success is network connections (guangxi), especially with government officials. Indian businessmen, however, have succeeded despite the government: 81% say the main reason for their success is

Great disasters occur constantly. The Asian financial crisis blasted the miracle economies of Asia. The Great Recession of 2007-09 led to the bankruptcy/rescue of the five top investment banks on Wall Street, the biggest bank (Citibank), the biggest insurance company

Two British committees, one Dutch committee and a US Senate committee have investigated Climategate — the disclosure from emails that scientists at the Climate Research Unit (CRU) of East Anglia University sought to withhold data from and sabotage research publications

The government has finally hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG, though by less than recommended by the Kirit Parikh Committee. It has decontrolled petrol , and hopes to decontrol diesel in due course. But its timidity suggests that

Earlier this year, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard suggested that countries should raise their inflation targets from a typical 2% per year to 4%. His suggestion was greeted with hoots of derision. Yet in a world where there are no

The Indian government remains asleep to the revolutionary potential of shale gas, which promises to revolutionise both the world energy scene and global geopolitics. Russia, Iran and Opec are going to be greatly weakened, while the US, Europe and China