When oil cost $ 145/barrel in June and I predicted a price crash below $ 100/barrel, some jeered at my optimism. But oil crashed to just $ 65/barrel last week. Domestic prices of petrol and diesel are pegged to a

Big financial institutions of all sorts are in dire straits across the globe. But one category remains unaffected—micro-finance. Even as the global financial system freezes and giants like Lehman Brothers collapse, micro-finance institutions (MFIs) are expanding unfazed. Famous financiers face

I am not usually a pessimist. But I predict that India will suffer a lot of pain in the next 18 months, as the economy slows down along with the current global slowdown. The US, Europe and Japan are sinking

Inclusive finance—giving loans to everybody, including the poor­­­—is desired by politicians in India, and in all democracies. Yet the current US financial crisis shows the perils of taking this goal too far. The crisis arose from the bursting of a

Socialists, like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela or Indira Gandhi in India, are famous for nationalising the biggest corporations. But the US governmenthas taken over three of its biggest corporations within two weeks. Has the US turned socialist? American right-wingers moan

Having overcome a series of obstacles ranging from Prakash Karat to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, India\’s plans for a massive nuclear power progra mme now face an even more daunting obstacle – Mamata Banerjee. Having tasted blood at Nandigram and