On July 29 the terms of reference of the Fifteenth Finance Commission were suddenly modified by a Presidential order. The Commission is now being asked to examine whether a separate mechanism for financing expenditure on defence and internal security should…
The hallmark of a systemic, as distinct from a cyclical or sporadic, crisis of capitalism is that every effort to resolve the crisis within the broad confines of the system, defined in terms of its prevailing class configuration, only worsens…
I am often asked: why has the Left, so powerful less than a decade ago, suddenly got eclipsed? The question is pertinent. True, the eclipse of the Left is mainly in the electoral arena, and the Left’s strength has to…
Jammu and Kashmir was the first state in the country to introduce land reforms. There were two components of J&K’s land reforms. First, the system of absentee landlordism,that had prevailed during the Maharaja’s time was completely done away with. The…
In justification of the move to end Kashmir’s special status, Amit Shah in his speech in the Rajya Sabha brought in the question of Kashmir’s “development”, arguing that closer integration with the rest of India will bring in much investment…
One of the immanent tendencies of capital is to commoditize every sphere of life; and under neo-liberal capitalism where the immanent tendencies of capital are given full play, we find the sway of commoditization reaching into new areas. The commoditization…
First it was the Finance Secretary who said that if the government borrowed less then more savings would be available for the private sector to borrow. Then it was the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India who talked…
Fifty years ago on July 19, 1969, fourteen large private banks had been nationalized. Ironically the Golden Jubilee of that event, which had been a significant step in the process of building up a new financial architecture for the country,…
The debate over inequality has become hotter world-wide. While Trump had introduced substantial tax cuts for the rich in 2017, and Britain’s Boris Johnson, the front-runner to succeed Teresa May, has promised to do the same if he becomes Prime…
The “Gross Domestic Product” is a concept rooted in an epistemic position which is intrinsically incapable of recognizing the existence of a “surplus” in society. A simple example will make this clear. Suppose we have an agrarian economy in which…
