The World Economy in Decline
The European Central Bank last month pushed its benchmark interest rate to minus 0.5 per cent, which means that if it gives a loan of 100 euros then it would be paid back only 99.5 euros at the expiry of…
Market Jitters that carry a Message
Mid-September saw some unusual developments in US money markets, which gave market players and monetary authorities the jitters. Over three days, a key short term interest rate rose sharpy to reach levels last touched about a decade ago, when the…
A Tax Policy that could work
The Indian government should now be desperate to raise more tax revenues. It missed its tax targets massively in the last fiscal year, largely because of poor goods and services tax (GST) collections. Its declared budgetary target for the current…
A Counter-productive Measure
The Modi government has an unerring instinct for bungling in economic matters. It has come out with a “fiscal stimulus” for tackling the current economic slowdown that will actually make matters worse. After successive interest rate cuts which were predictably…
The opposite of what was needed
The reduction in the corporate tax rate by the BJP government, which would entail a transfer of Rs.1.45 lakh crores from the public exchequer to the corporate sector, has been generally seen to be insufficient for overcoming the slowdown in…
RCEP: A dangerous drift
In another instance of lack of clarity in economic decision making, the NDA government seems to be drifting into signing on to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement potentially involving 16 Asia-Pacific partners. Under discussion for 7 years now,…
Official Reforms and India’s Real Economy
That the Indian economy is currently experiencing a slowdown is more than evident, both with the deliberations in different private circles and with official statements signalling a series of remedial measures , mostly focussed on the ailing financial sector! However, as…
Sops that are no Stimulus
The government has finally admitted that the Indian economy is on a steep downturn. For some time now, even the business community, which tends to shower all praise and disapprove any criticism of the reformist Modi dispensation, has expressed concern…
India’s Economic and Social ills and what to do about them
Only a few weeks ago, the central government was talking grandly about India reaching a $5-trillion economy and refusing to recognise the severe slowdown India is going through. (This is not such a grand ambition when compared with China, which…
The Destruction of Fiscal Federalism
The Modi government has moved so rapidly to dismantle so many institutional and regulatory structures that have underpinned Indian democracy that it is easy to lose track. Among the many such moves that are likely to have long-term adverse consequences…