The Economic Times

I am somewhat surprised that the sensex as well as other stock markets the world over have taken off after the US Federal Reserve cut its short-term interest rate by 0.5%, to 5.5%. Other central banks are also expected to […]

Journalists do not have a good reputation for predicting recessions. Indeed, they are reputed to have predicted 10 of the last three recessions. A month ago, I wrote that the US had a 33% chance of going into recession next

The slump in global stock markets since July has wiped out an estimated $5 trillion of wealth, five times the GDP of India. So, world inequality has fallen dramatically. Are poor people across the world celebrating the great reduction of

We are celebrating, simultaneously, the 60th anniversary of Independence and 150th anniversary of the 1857 mutiny against British rule. Some historians and most politicians call the mutiny the first war of independence. This is a dubious proposition. The concept of

Today, globalisation is equated with economic liberalisation. Of course, the Soviet Union once sought a different sort of socialist globalisation. But the Soviet Union is now gone, and globalisation is seen to be driven by the private sector. Indeed, the

In February, The Economist (the British weekly) hazarded a guess that India\’s current account deficit in 2006-07 would be 3% of GDP. Others, including me, felt it would be closer to 2% of GDP. In fact, it was just 1.1%

In February, The Economist (the British weekly) hazarded a guess that India\’s current account deficit in 2006-07 would be 3% of GDP. Others, including me, felt it would be closer to 2% of GDP. In fact, it was just 1.1%

July 2 marked the tenth anniversary of the Asian financial crisis, which flattened most Asian economies in 1997-99. China and India suffered, but survived intact. Today, Asian countries have adopted new policies — discussed below — to ensure that 1997

Traditional bank architecture is based on bank branches. The branches ensure the physical security of your savings. You go there to deposit and withdraw money, negotiate loans, and engage in other financial transactions. In the past two decades, the banking

The 61st NSSO round shows (see accompanying table) that per capita calorie consumption in India has declined once again in 2004-05, measured in kilocalories (popularly referred to simply as calories). Consumption has fallen to 2,047 calories in rural India (against