The Economic Times

Every year, the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation bring out a book called The Index of Economic Freedom, the centerpiece of which is an index  ranking countries by the extent of freedom in 10 economic dimensions. Not all will […]

Historically, growth in developing economies has been led by industry, minerals or agriculture. The only exceptions have been small island economies that are tourism-led. India is the first major developing economy to become services-led, with services outpacing industry and agriculture.

Historically, growth in developing economies has been led by industry, minerals or agriculture. The only exceptions have been small island economies that are tourism-led. India is the first major developing economy to become services-led, with services outpacing industry and agriculture.

  Table: Latest Balance of Payments data ($ billion)   Apr-June 2003 Apr-June 2004   Exports(goods) 13.2 16.8   Imports(goods) 18.7 23.1   Invisible exports 11.0 17.7   Software 2.7 3.5   Other miscellaneous 0.9 4.6   Private transfers 4.9

For decades, I have been among the most scathing critics of Nehruvian socialism, which  deformed our intellectual and economic development for four decades after independence. Initially, this criticism was regarded as blasphemy. Today, it has become close to conventional wisdom.

  Revised balance of payments data in the RBI Bulletin for October suggest that India’s external strength is even greater than believed earlier. The data contain some puzzles:  India is overflowing with dollars for reasons still poorly understood. See the

After 13 years of half-baked economic liberalization, how difficult is it to run a business in India? Comparisons with other countries would be useful, but are technically difficult. The World Bank’s recent publication “Doing Business in 2004”, bravely tries to

I cheer the upsurge of microfinance in the last decade. Mohammed Yunus of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh first demonstrated the value or organizing poor women into self-help groups (SHGs), with the group guaranteeing repayment by any member. These microfinance groups

Three years ago, I suggested in these columns that India should import electricity rather than gas from the Gulf. The logic of that has strengthened with the rise in oil prices, and technological improvements in undersea power cables. The petroleum

Daridra Narayan in a three-piece suit. That sums up the \”reforms-with-a-human face\” budget presented by Finance Minister Chidambaram on Thursday. This is no dream budget, just an effort to flesh out the Common Minimum Programme. Its only dream is to