Can India stay with GST?
July 2020 marks the completion of three years since the launch of the Good and Services Tax regime. That is long enough to allow us to take stock of how well the new tax regime is performing. If the regime…
What could be wrong with a Fiscal Deficit
I have written about this in the past, but since bad economics comes thick and fast from the representatives of finance capital, especially the Bretton Woods institutions located in Washington DC, there is no harm in my repeating myself. The…
Deception on Poverty
There is much self-congratulatory back-slapping among governments, the World Bank officials and many economists about the “decline in poverty” that is supposed to have occurred between 1990 and the onset of the recent pandemic. This decline is claimed on the…
Can the Economic Lever Nudge China?
In a surprise move, the Indian government has decided to ban the use of 59 Chinese apps, some of which like Tik-Tok and UC browser are extremely popular in India’s consumer digital space. According to The Wall Street Journal, quoting…
A Critique of the Indian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The most destructive effects of Covid-19 in India have not been the result of the disease, but the nature of the government response. The most stringent lockdown in the world destroyed the economy and forced millions into poverty and hunger,…
It is High Time to Tweak India’s FDI Rules
Reactions have come in from different quarters after the Indian Government introduced new screening rules for foreign direct investment (FDI) in April 2020. The latest Press Note on FDI (Press Note 3, 2020) has made government approval mandatory for all…
The Hindrance to a New Deal Today
What had been only a suggestion by several prescient members of the capitalist establishment till now, has become official policy, at least in Britain where Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that his government will undertake public investment to stimulate…
Developing Asia’s External Debt Concerns
There has been much discussion about how external debt concerns are likely to weigh heavily on developing countries in their attempts at economic recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of this discussion has centred on emerging markets…
A Tale of Two Countries
On May 25 in Minneapolis, an African-American arrestee George Floyd was choked to death by a white police officer pressing his knee against Floyd’s neck. The entire America erupted in protests, which targeted not just contemporary racism but even historical…
FTAs and the Race to the Bottom
The competition among Asian countries to win a slice of export markets currently controlled by China is intensifying. In a recent development, Vietnam has finally ratified a free trade agreement with the EU, under which more than 70 per cent…