The Politics of Budget

Everyone agrees that the budget is a political exercise, albeit couched in economic and financial terms. It touches the lives of virtually the entire population. Therefore, its impact is far reaching and necessarily takes on political overtones. It is often used to serve immediate partisan interests as for example in 2008, when the then finance…

Grads with grades that go nowhere

The trouble plaguing Young India today is that its schools and colleges put them through the wheels but leave them without usable skills. This has to change India has been among the fastest growing economies in the world. World Bank estimated that in the 1960s, approximately 45 percent of Indians lived below the poverty line.…

Expectations from GST

The ideal GST has just one rate. In the last Council meeting held, it was agreed to have four. This is a step in the right direction as the poor will get some relief. However, simplicity of the structure has been compromised by implementing cess for five year period to compensate the States. Maintaining a…

The state that matters: UP elections 2017

Battle lines have been drawn in Uttar Pradesh, as the regional heavyweights and national stalwarts face off against each other in February 2017. In May 2014, after the 16th Lok Sabha elections, a prominent national daily published an article titled, ‘Regional parties in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have gone voiceless’. It seemed appropriate at the…

Scaling Up the Defence Budget Will Not Make India Combat Ready or Fix Systemic Inefficiencies

The Shekatkar committee report represents a starting point and makes a valuable suggestion – non-combat organisations must be reviewed and restructured. The recommendations of the Shekatkar committee, constituted in May by the defence ministry, were presented in a report to defence minister Manohar Parrikar on December 21, 2016. The report is said to be voluminous,…

Demonetization Episode Shows why Reserve Bank of India cannot be Independent of National Economic Policy Makers

In the wake of demonetization, a debate has emerged on independence of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Several former Governors of RBI are calling for greater independence of RBI citing the case of demonetization as an example of erosion of RBI’s independence. We would suggest an opposite line. Demonetization shows why RBI cannot be fully…

Calling for a Head

New Delhi : People standing in long queues to exchange their old Rs 500 and 1000 notes and withdraw cash from the ATM in New Delhi on Thursday. We will state our baseline assumption first the “implementation” of the demonetization exercise, though admittedly an historically unprecedented exercise in its scale and timelines, could still have…