|
More
Farmers or Fewer? |
| May
13th 2013, Rahul
Goswami |
|
The
consequences of western Maharashtra's urbanisation on
the food security of the 14 districts that have sent
rural workers to that region are yet to be recognised.
|
|
| Small
Savings Schemes in India and the Saradha Scam |
| Apr
29th 2013, Subhanil
Chowdhury |
|
The
erroneous policies of the central government in terms
of changing the incentives for small savings have helped
the expansion and consolidation of the Saradha group.
|
|
| The
Sensex and the Economy |
| Apr
8th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
central bank's cheap credit and easy money policies
have helped the Indian stock market to remain reasonably
positioned even when the economy sinks.
|
|
| Bullying
Cyprus to No End |
| Apr
4th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
highhandedness shown by the troika (EU, ECB and IMF)
in the case of Cyprus once again shows how the core
in Europe is pushing the costs of adjustment to the
periphery.
|
|
| The
Public Sector Cash Pile |
| Apr
1st 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
As
India's CPSEs accumulate surpluses, the government continues
with its effort to redirect and mop up the balances
rather than assist them invest the funds in new capacities.
|
|
| Is
Global Finance Finally Shrinking? |
| Mar
20th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Even
as the value of global financial assets has fallen sharply
since 2007, it may be essential to shrink it further
to make the financial system fulfil its basic tasks.
|
|
| Signals
from the Car Market |
| Mar
20th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Recent
downturn in the once rapidly growing passenger car industry
points towards the fact that credit-driven growth cannot
sustain over a long period of time.
|
|
| India's
Rich are the Problem |
| Mar
18th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Addressing
India's worsening current account deficit requires reining
in the import bill, which in turn requires curbing elite
consumption.
|
|
| China's
Exploding Debt |
| Mar
12th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Amidst
the ongoing global financial crisis, a potential financial
market threat is looming in China which is based on
''shadow banking'' lending to real estate sector.
|
|
| Ruling
out Default by Definition |
| Feb
22nd 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
loan recovery process initiated by Kingfisher Airlines'
lenders at a significant haircut may be not the last
instance of large losses to be suffered by the banking
system.
|
|
| No
Standards, Not Poor |
| Feb
20th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
rising tide of litigation against US credit ratings
agencies could help resolve the conflict of interest
involved in basing financial regulation on the ratings
system.
|
|
| Two
Parties, One Vision |
| Feb
6th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Despite
the handicap stemming from the growing similarity of
its economic policy with that of the BJP, the economic
policy vision of the Congress party is unlikely to change.
|
|
| How
Not to Urbanise |
| Feb
6th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Although
recent urbanisation in China is associated with several
positive features, it has also generated problems that
are making this process unsustainable.
|
|
| Is
China Changing? |
| Feb
1st 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
As
evidence suggests, the Chinese economy is experiencing
a reversal of the trajectory of high growth driven by
excess investment; there is a shift towards consumption
now.
|
|
| The
Plight of Domestic Workers in India |
| Jan
24th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Domestic
work takes place under extremely difficult and oppressive
conditions with low pay, no limits on working hours,
lack of dignity and no protection or social security.
|
|
| India's
Gold Rush |
| Jan
23rd 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
India's
obsession with gold has led to sharp rise in the foreign
exchange outgo on account of gold imports. So, a return
to gold control of a workable kind is very important.
|
|
| The
Persistent Power of Finance |
| Jan
23rd 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
recent approval by the SEC of USA to a JP Morgan created
ETF backed by physical supply of copper reflects the
collusive power of finance capital over regulators till
date.
|
|
| The
Cost of Food Security |
| Jan
22nd 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
argument of inadequate food supplies and burden on the
government's budget that is advanced against universal
food security programme is shocking and without much
basis.
|
|
| A
Plan for Corporate India |
| Jan
9th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Even
though talk of planning is a travesty, the Twelfth Five
Year Plan document is still a shocker, because of its
unashamed advocacy of measures that favour private capital.
|
|
| India
and the Congress Party |
| Jan
9th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
Congress Party's actions that appear insensitive, distant
and even cynically patronising have alienated its core
constituency of the poor, minorities and middle classes.
|
|
| Polishing
the Nation's Silver |
| Jan
3rd 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Avoiding
taxation route and relying more on non-debt capital
receipts has led to the failure of the government on
the fiscal front in terms of its deficit reduction target.
|
|
| Mad
about Cash Transfers |
| Jan
1st 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Cash
transfer is seen by the Congress Party as the vehicle
that will lead it to electoral victory. But, in no case
should it be seen as substitute for public service delivery.
|
|
| India's
Triumph in Rice |
| Dec
26th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
argument that the Indian government's decision to lift
the four-year ban on non-basmati rice exports was a
wise move is both inappropriate and premature.
|
|
| Banking
Amendment |
| Dec
26th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill will lead to new entry,
consolidation and expanded foreign presence in a sector
that is the repository of household saving in the country.
|
|
| Wages
of Neglect |
| Dec
14th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
While
monsoon-dependence contributed to the long-term worsening
trend of Indian agriculture, that dependence and the
decline in productivity is the result of long-term neglect.
|
|
| Gujarat:
A growth story retold |
| Dec
14th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
benefits of Gujarat's economic growth have not been
shared with the State’s poor and working population,
even as the sustainability of the growth trajectory
is in doubt.
|
|
| Demonising
Dissent |
| Dec
5th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
reform measures of the UPA government, its double standards
and failure to actually improve the conditions of its
people have been major sources of public disappointment.
|
|
| FDI
in Banking |
| Nov
19th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Given
that accessing foreign equity to enhance bank's capital
is possible within the existing regulatory framework,
there is no case for altering the current RBI rules.
|
|
| India
Wants More than Crony Capitalism |
| Nov
14th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Revelations
of corruption are engulfing the country's leading Congress
party. But what will replace it?
|
|
| Does
the Left have an Alternative? |
| Oct
31st 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Left
trajectory, an alternative to the policy being pursued
in India, can sustain only if it reverses the neo-liberal
policies and carries forward the interests of the people.
|
|
| How
Safe are India's Banks? |
| Oct
30th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
NPA figures on the books of the scheduled commercial
banks seem to be gross underestimates given the recent
debt restructurings involving a number of large borrowers.
|
|
| Promise
Belied |
| Oct
20th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
There
is little evidence from the RBI's latest data to suggest
that liberalisation's promise of positive net foreign
exchange earnings for the country has borne fruit.
|
|
| Importing
Risk into Insurance |
| Oct
17th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
government's decision to increase foreign presence in
insurance industry would import practices that would
subject the savings of middle classes to increased probability
of loss.
|
|
| Food
World |
| Oct
17th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
globalised fast-food culture encourages a wasteful and
unhealthy pattern of food consumption that is detrimental
to the health of people in developing and developed
countries.
|
|
| The
Role of the Small Retailer |
| Oct
6th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
As
evidence suggests, policy of pushing organised retail
will result in substantial loss of employment and livelihood
contrary to the official claim of employment growth.
|
|
| Foreign
Finance and India's Development |
| Sep
25th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
principal objective of the current government seems
to be that of winning and sustaining the whimsical 'confidence'
of foreign capital at all costs. This is the new and
defining feature of economic policy of present day India.
|
|
| India's
Supermarket Move Shows its Tired Government has Run Out
of Ideas |
| Sep
21st 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Opening
up India's retail sector to western supermarkets will
lead to exploitation of small producers and adverse
employment effects. Despite vehement opposition the
government insists on pushing through this reform, a
move that speaks of a tired regime which has run out
of ideas.
|
|
| The
Coming Food Crisis |
| Sep
12th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Even
as the global recessionary trend continues, the world
is waking up to the prospect of another food crisis
resulting in a period of political turmoil with unexpected
consequences. This will have an adverse affect on poor
developing country exporters that have not yet recovered
fully from earlier crises.
|
|
| The
Parthasarathi Shome Committee Report |
| Sep
10th 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
Shome Committee Report has recommended that the introduction
of GAAR should be kept in abeyance until April 1, 2016
and that the capital gains tax be done away with altogether.
These are all a reflection of the Manmohan Singh government's
keenness to legitimise its efforts to start another
stock market ''bubble'', which it thinks will stimulate
growth by attracting more speculative finance capital
into the country.
|
|
| Redefining
the Nation |
| Sep
6th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Growth
achieved under the UPA regime as a result of the reform
pursued relentlessly by them has benefited a few while
excluding the majority. So to argue that such growth
is in the interests of national security is to redefine
the nation itself.
|
|
| The
Allocation of Coal Blocks |
| Sep
3rd 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
allocation of captive coal blocks to private parties
raises a number of issues, which includes the fact even
the auction route does not recoup the entire loss to
the exchequer on account of the handing over of exhaustible
resources to the private sector. Further, by handing
over coal blocks that constitute stocks, the government
is not just assuring the private players of flows, it
is actually promoting monopoly. This is the larger loss
to the nation.
|
|
| How
Wage-led Growth has Powered Argentina's Economic Recovery |
| Aug
31st 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
manner in which Argentina has been able to generate
more genuinely inclusive growth, through the promotion
of productive and fairly remunerated employment and
a different approach to social protection, sets a bright
example of alternative strategy. This could be a learning
lesson for all other countries trying to come out of
the current recessionary trends.
|
|
| A
Scandal in Kerala |
| Aug
24th 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Passing
a legislation permitting plantation owners in Kerala
to use up to five percent of the land under their control
for purposes other than growing plantation crops, including
growing other crops and real estate projects, legitimises
the illegal land occupations of the big plantation owners
and opens up huge tracts of land for the operation of
the real estate mafia. Crucially, it will also eliminate
any scope for an extension of land reforms, which was
a major component of the trajectory of egalitarian development
in the state.
|
|
| Tweaking
Animal Spirits |
| Aug
8th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
One
element of the emerging policy consensus within India's
economic policy establishment involves spurring demand
for the private sector by diverting expenditure away
from subsidies for the poor to finance investment. Simultaneously,
a case is being made for providing more concessions
to cajole the private sector into exploiting this opportunity.
|
|
| Inequality
in South Asia |
| Jul
25th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
increase in income and consumption inequalities in the
South Asian countries during their period of globalisation
compared with other highly globally integrated countries
such as those in Latin America suggest that South Asian
governments have much to learn from the proactive policies
for equity elsewhere in the world.
|
|
| The
Growth Model has Come Undone |
| Jul
12th 2012, Mritiunjoy
Mohanty |
|
The
government's argument that India's economic slowdown
is the result of the global situation and related uncertainty
is only partly true. The deeper reason is the unravelling
of the underlying growth model - partly due to the greatly
increased import dependence of the manufacturing sector
and partly because the investment subsidy that Indian
companies enjoyed due to the under-pricing of assets
is no longer feasible.
|
|
| Markets
and the Role of Law? |
| Jul
2nd 2012, Bikku
Kuruvila |
|
While
law is presented within the dominant policy discourse
as a source of transaction costs and bureaucracy, markets
simply could not exist without the rigorous enforcement
of rules and contracts that allow the much-celebrated
moments of ''free exchange'' to proceed with any certainty.
In this light, it is very important to look at the political
compromises, policy resolutions and distributional consequences
created by market-oriented state intervention. To this
view, India in 2012 is already largely integrated into
the global economy with the growth, volatility and inequality
that such integration entails.
|
|
| Pranab
Mukherjee as Finance Minister |
| Jun
26th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Although
he has been awarded as the best Finance Minister, Pranab
Mukherjee has failed to manage the economy that has
been reeling under decelerating growth, rising prices
of essential goods and stagnant employment along with
high youth unemployment. He did little or nothing to
ameliorate any of these problems, instead, in some cases
he exacerbated them.
|
|
| India
and the Credit Rating Agencies |
| Jun
26th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
In
the recent times, several big international credit rating
agencies have downgraded India's rating outlook as a
sovereign borrower. The main point however is whether
we should at all bother about the ''opinions'' of these
external credit rating agencies. Maybe we would all
have been better off without the destabilising influence
they have played and continue to play in India and in
the rest of the world.
|
|
| When
the Law Takes its Course |
| Jun
26th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Rajat
Gupta's conviction has been a great disappointment for
the neo liberal elites of this country. He was seen
as an icon, a living proof, that even a home grown could
achieve the highest success in the globalised world.
The fact that he has done all this by unscrupulous means
is a hard truth to accept. Therefore, it is not surprising
that the local media is trying to downplay the whole
incident.
|
|
| The
Blame Game around Oil |
| Jun
13th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
It
is not that the UPA government is running out of alternatives
to tackle the woes caused by the oil and currency shocks.
The absence of decisive policies and lack of inner consensus
have trapped the government in a debate on who would
bear the burden and how the burden should be shared.
A combination of subsidies and tax reforms can address
the issue. But it calls for easing the grip of neoliberal
thinking over the UPA.
|
|
| The
Queen and her Guards |
| Jun
13th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
aggrandised celebration that marked the Queen's diamond
jubilee was successful in concealing the grim economic
realities of the British economy. A disquieting employment
situation, discussed in the article, raises concern
that it could just be the tip of the iceberg and that
a sweatshop scenario that was once regarded as typical
of the developing world exists in the UK as well.
|
|
| Curbing
Conflicts of Interests |
| Jun
6th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Among
the many other forces that have proliferated in the
economic boom of the brash new India is conflict of
interest. It is widespread, comprehensive and has almost
become the rule rather than an exception. This is resulting
in cronyism and other form of malpractices in almost
all spheres of our lives.
|
|
| India's
Growth Story Ends |
| Jun
6th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Even
when confronted with slowing growth, the Indian government
is adopting austerity measures that trap the country
in a recession, because of the accumulated presence
of foreign finance in the country. The latter not only
increases economic instability, but also induces an
element of "policy paralysis". Capital controls
are a must to give policy manoeuvrability to the government.
|
|
| ILO
Leadership Election Must Not be Another Charade |
| May
21st 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
ILO is uniquely positioned among the multilateral organisations
to play an extremely significant role in forging a global
consensus around viable alternative economic trajectories.
The election of a developing country candidate as its
new Director-General would have important consequences
that go beyond symbolism.
|
|
| Time
to End the Madness |
| May
16th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Irrational
insistence on fiscal conservatism has led to widespread
growth slowdown not only in the European countries,
but also in emerging economies like China and India.
The political backlash in major eurozone economies rekindles
hope that governments embracing growth stunting fiscal
tightening would soon switch back to sound economic
policy-making.
|
|
| Is
a Universal Pension Scheme Feasible in India? |
| May
16th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
In
an economy like ours, a universal pension scheme must
be part of a broader development strategy that focuses
on public investment in physical and social infrastructure,
which will ensure supply of necessary goods and services
while increasing demand from the population in a stable
and inclusive way.
|
|
| The
Roaring 2000s |
| May
11th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
coincidence of the profit and the output booms during
the two post-liberalisation booms in India's organised
manufacturing sector since the early 1990s suggests
that in periods of rising demand, the organised manufacturing
sector in India has been a major beneficiary of reform
through a rise in mark up. The complaints of the leaders
of this sector are therefore not to be taken too seriously.
|
|
| For
a Universal Old-age Pension Scheme |
| May
10th 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
basic argument behind the demand for a universal, non-means-related,
non-contributory pension scheme is derivable from the
rights-based approach and stands unimpaired. For raising
the resources necessary for such a publicly-funded pension
scheme, tax proposals similar to those in international
discussions can be worked out for India as well.
|
|
| Paralysis
in Policy Assessment |
| May
8th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
kind of policy paralysis that the UPA government is
identified with refers to the failure of the government
to deliver fully on its commitment to so-called economic
reform. But the true paralysis lies in its inability
to address deprivation by allocating additional resources
and improving delivery to accelerate advance on the
human development front.
|
|
| A
Communist's Life under Capitalism |
| May
8th 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
contradictions confronting the personal life of a Communist
activist having to work within a capitalist society
have not attracted much classical Marxist theorizing.
But the question of how a communist living under capitalism
must both engage in quotidian life and yet be outside
of it needs to be addressed for the formulation of an
appropriate Communist praxis in today's world.
|
|
| The
Continuing Need for Industrial Policy |
| May
7th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
13th UNCTAD conference held recently in Qatar discussed
industrial policies as the significant yet unsung force
behind the much trumpeted emergence of some developing
economies as major players in the global stage. Despite
liberalisation in the '90s, much of India's success
too lies in the industrial policies that preceded it.
Moreover, India has much to learn from its counterparts
like Brazil on how to utilise industrial policies even
in largely market-driven economies.
|
|
| The
Commerce Ministry's Secret |
| Apr
28th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
enormous export growth of India could possibly be an
exaggeration considering the waning global demand. The
unprecedented resilience and recovery of Indian exports
during the crisis period cannot be accounted for by
macroeconomic factors, technical glitches or speculation
and is one of the best kept secrets of the Commerce
ministry.
|
|
| Affordable
Medicine: A big step forward |
| Apr
27th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
recent judgement by India's Controller of Patents granting
Compulsory License to an Indian pharmaceutical company
for the production of a cancer drug, the patent for
which is held by German pharmaceuticals and chemicals
giant Bayer, is not just historic but path breaking.
|
|
| In
the Middle of a Muddle |
| Apr
21st 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
While
the RBI is being advised to cautiously stimulate demand
and growth, at the same time keeping a close watch on
inflation, the Finance Ministry is being cajoled into
stoking inflation by hiking a range of prices.
|
|
| The
Dollar Drain |
| Apr
16th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
With
the government announcing the new liberalised norm for
remittances for Indian residents, there has been a spurt
in capital outflow from the country. The rising Indian
appetite to invest abroad could prove a problem if uncertainty
with regard to rupee rises, as such uncertainty could
trigger capital flight in a liberalised environment.
|
|
| Using
the Potential of BRICS Financial Co-operation |
| Apr
9th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
emergence of BRICS as a global economic entity offers
a scope for democratising the entire process of South-South
Co-operation that till date has been mainly corporate
led. The commonalities of the challenges faced by the
individual members of BRICS can act as a platform for
developing a more progressive developmental trajectory
for the member countries, and all emerging economies
at large.
|
|
| Mutiny
of the Minority Shareholder |
| Mar
19th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
In
what would be a first for India, a minority foreign
investor in a public sector company that had gone in
for privatisation, in this case a hedge fund looking
for capital gains, has challenged the right of the government
to pursue policies it presumes is in the national interest.
|
|
| Don't
Shoot the Interpreter |
| Mar
7th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
Supreme Court judgment on Vodafone case is a godsend
for the government, which can now pretend that it is
the court that is responsible for an increasingly lax
tax policy in the country where there are, as the government
claims, inadequate resources to ensure food security,
address deprivation and provide employment.
|
|
| Taking
American Business Back Home |
| Mar
6th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Evidence
suggests that Barack Obama's ploy to justify tax concessions
to corporations in a country where they are effectively
undertaxed may help to ensure the return home of American
business.
|
|
| The
Chinese Way |
| Feb
24th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Although
the use of the banking system as a development instrumentality
in China has been useful, there are a host of new problems
that has cropped up. This would possibly encourage the
government to retrace its steps and strike a new path.
|
|
| Chronic
Famishment |
| Feb
21st 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
recently released report of the National Sample Survey
Organisation on the average calorie intake per person
in Indian households, points to a much higher incidence
of poverty in the country than reflected in estimates
of the proportion of the population below the official
"poverty" line. The detailed evidence on nutritional
trends suggests that the extent of malnutrition in India
not only remains extremely high, but is also increasing
over time.
|
|
| We
Need a New World Order at the World Bank |
| Feb
18th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
For
long, the IMF and the World Bank have been zealously
controlled by the USA and the European Countries on
flimsy grounds. It is high time such practices are changed
taking into account the new world realities.
|
|
| Concentration
in Global Food Markets |
| Feb
14th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
growing power of multinational firms within the global
food system has implications for both producers and
consumers of food and it poses serious threats to global
food security. Therefore, enforcement of some regulation
and control is necessary to prevent concentration of
market power in the hands of a few large retailers that
leads to various malpractices.
|
|
| From
Food Security to Food Justice |
| Feb
7th 2012, Ananya
Mukherjee |
|
Millions
of Indians suffer from the twin violence of hunger and
injustice. However, most of the Indian governments are
neither willing nor able to deliver food justice. Therefore,
the need of the hour is the devolution of power and
resources to the local level so that with their knowledge
of local needs and situations they can create a just
food economy, as has been shown by the women in Kerala.
|
|
| Prof.
Jagdish Bhagwati on the Gujarat Economy |
| Feb
6th 2012, Indira
Hirway |
|
This
article refutes the argument made by Professor Bhagwati
that the Gujarat economy is doing very well, not only
in terms of economic growth but also in social sectors.
The author contends that the growth model in the state
seems to have discouraged inclusion of the excluded,
both in the growth process as well as in the redistribution
process.
|
|
| The
Price of Growth |
| Jan
27th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
early signs of a reduction in the rate of inflation
have been used as evidence to make a case for lower
interest rates. However, there is no reason to believe
that within the current policy regime, rate cuts would
not aggravate inflationary trends once again.
|
|
| The
Role China Plays |
| Jan
25th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
China,
which is being touted as the biggest challenger to US
economic supremacy, is witnessing slowdown in its growth
rates. However, such a slowdown could prove to be bad
news for the US economy as well, because China also
happens to be the biggest market for all US MNCs.
|
|
| Capitalism
and Hunger |
| Jan
20th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
After
close to 65 years of independent national development,
the level of child malnutrition in India remains unacceptably
high. The capitalist growth of the worst variety fostered
by neoliberalism and the consequent refusal of the government
to directly address the problem explains the cause for
this ''national shame''.
|
|
| Year
of Centenaries |
| Jan
12th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
100
years ago when Gustav Mahler composed his 9th Symphony,
it reflected the troubling times he lived in. It was
music for uncertain times, even though it contains within
it certainties of different kinds. 100 years later,
there is almost a sense of déjà vu with
Europe, and indeed the whole world, now faced with another
period of political and economic volatility.
|
|
| Lies,
Damned lies, and Statistics: On Arvind Panagariya's Kerala
adventure |
| Jan
5th 2012, R.
Ramakumar |
|
This
is a response to the article titled ''Cracking the Kerala
Myth'', published in the newspaper Times of India dated
2 January 2012. The author refutes the claims that the
development of Kerala was not state-led success, and
highlights the statistical fallacies in the argument.
|
|
| Retail
Rollback |
| Dec
26th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
whole fiasco over the decision to allow FDI in retail
and the subsequent withdrawal of the same has been a
major embarrassment for the Indian Government. The failure
to get its own allies on board proves that political
democracy held its sway. The very fact that the political
parties were so wary about the issue proves how little
support this decision actually has amongst the larger
masses.
|
|
| Multinational
Retail Firms in India |
| Dec
12th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
actual impact of large corporate retail, and especially
multinational retail chains, in developing countries
clearly shows that many of the claims made by proponents
of such corporate retailing - in terms of employment
generation or benefits to producers and consumers -
are suspect or sometimes completely false.
|
|
| Democracy
and the Financial Markets |
| Dec
20th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
In
the last few decades, it has become increasingly common
for various developing and ''emerging'' markets to give
greater importance to appeasing the interests of financial
markets over the requirements of political democracy.
Now, this is afflicting developed countries as well,
where governments are sacrificing democracy in favour
of the markets.
|
|
| Retrogression
in Retail |
| Dec
1st 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Permitting
FDI in retail trade, wherein a few oligopolistic buyers
will come to dominate retail trade, will lead to adverse
employment effects and an erosion of the real incomes
of small crop producers.
|
|
| The
End of Europe? |
| Nov
30th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
crisis in Europe has recently claimed many political
victims, with the governments in Greece and Spain, two
of the worst hit countries, being changed. The newer
governments promise to implement stringent austerity
measures that are being proposed as a solution to the
crisis. However, how much of austerity can actually
be implemented, and what good such measures will do
to resolve the crisis is highly doubtful.
|
|
| European
Banks and Asia |
| Nov
17th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
European
banks are being forced to take a haircut to deal with
the region's crisis. Given their greater role in total
international funding and the significant exposure of
Asian financial systems to global capital, this raises
concerns about the likely impact that the European banking
crisis would have on Asia.
|
|
| Pills,
Patents and Profits |
| Nov
16th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
It
is widely accepted that regulation and control in India's
pharmaceutical sector had resulted in India ensuring
access to cheap medicines for its population. However,
liberalisation policies have eroded away much of the
benefits. The newly proposed National Pharmaceuticals
Pricing Policy, 2011 can do further damage by weakening
the current price control regulations.
|
|
| Employment
Generation as an Economic Strategy for Uncertain Times |
| Nov
14th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
This
is the acceptance speech made by the author at the award
function of the ILO Decent Work Research Prize, 2010.
Discussing the growing pressures in the current global
scenario, she argues for a shift in macroeconomic strategy
towards domestic wage- and employment-led growth as
a means to sustainable growth, as well as an end in
itself.
|
|
| Protest
in the Age of Crises |
| Nov
2nd 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
If
the Occupy Wall Street movement is to acquire strength
to actually confront the might of finance capital and
the state it controls, it must find greater cohesion,
with an organisational structure and a programme that
goes beyond anger against the capitalist system and
the condition to which it has reduced the majority.
|
|
| Karuturistan,
Ethiopia: The fire next time? |
| Oct
21st 2011, Alemayehu
G. Mariam |
|
Karuturi
is an Indian MNC that currently owns 2,500 sq km of
virgin fertile land in Gambala, Ethiopia, where it practices
corporate farming. The project has not only displaced
local inhabitants from their homeland, it is also impoverishing
the local community by bringing in farmers from India
and thereby denying local people the right to livelihood.
The produce is meant to be exported to the international
market, whereas Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients
of foreign food aid.
|
|
| Much
More Needed to Help the Poor |
| Oct
19th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
Planning Commission's Approach Paper to the Twelfth
Plan is not only disappointing, but also disturbing
in its attitude towards poverty reduction. Multidimensional
approach to poverty, which any sensible government would
adopt today, is ignored in the Approach paper and the
policy interventions that have been proposed are pathetic.
|
|
| The
G20 and Employment Outlook |
| Oct
12th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
A
recent ILO document on employment and labour market
outlook in G20 countries points towards an economic
crisis of major magnitude in most of them. According
to the report, the two key challenges for global policy
makers at present are to ensure better utilisation of
labour resources and better quality jobs.
|
|
| ''Planning''
for Whom? |
| Oct
12th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
There
are some fundamental changes in the Planning Commission's
current perspective relative to the earlier periods.
In the post-Independence years, pursuit of profit was
not seen as being in the social interest and this was
reflected in the nature of development planning. But
now, profit is the sole motive and the role of the state
is to merely facilitate this by incentivising corporate
activity.
|
|
| What
World Leaders Need to Do Urgently (but are not) |
| Oct
4th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Global
leaders' efforts to control the prevailing anarchy and
enable recovery in their economies end up having the
opposite effect, because the direction of their macroeconomic
policies is all wrong and mobile finance capital is
still largely unregulated. Here are five basic steps
that world leaders need to take.
|
|
| How
Little can a Person Live on Today? |
| Oct
3rd 2011, Utsa
Patnaik |
|
The
Planning Commission's laughable estimates of the ''poverty
line'' follow from a mistake in method which it made
thirty years ago and has clung to ever since. On the
basis of the officially accepted nutritional norms,
the true poverty lines show that 75 percent of the population
is in poverty. With this high level of destitution,
the sensible policy is to revert to a universal distribution
system with an urban employment guarantee scheme.
|
|
| Poverty
Lines and Poor Minds |
| Oct
3rd 2011, Himanshu |
|
There is much academic debate on the appropriate estimates
of poverty line. Poverty
lines are benchmarks for policy makers to measure progress
over time. The
use of such measures for targeting social assistance
is arbitrary. The Planning Commission's use of narrowly
defined poverty line estimates restricts access of the
poor to basic entitlements such as food and health.
What is required is universal provisioning of these
entitlements without recourse to any targeting.
|
|
| Shifting
Havens for Capital |
| Sep
30th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
In
parallel with the sudden strengthening of the dollar
recently, the value of a whole host of alternative assets
has fallen. In the process developing countries that
have been the targets of financial investors and those
dependent on commodity exports have become particularly
vulnerable.
|
|
| Approaching
the 12th Plan |
| Sep
26th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Considering
India's slow growth of employment in the recent period
because of our demographic bulge and increasing numbers
of educated youth in search of productive employment,
the need of the hour is to redesign our growth strategy
and use social policy and social expenditure to generate
more employment as employment creation is the most important
mechanism for achieving inclusive economic growth.
|
|
Nix
to Both Teams: People's power can only work within a structured
system |
| Sep
12th 2011, Ashok
Mitra |
|
Although
people's power is a beautiful idea, it can work only
within the format of a structured system. While the
Anna Hazare movement leaves lessons for the government
and the Parliament, it should also make the nation realise
the perils from excesses indulged in the name of the
people's will.
|
|
| Afterword
on a Movement |
| Sep
7th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Any
undermining of parliamentary democracy represents a
huge social retrogression. But a positive fall-out from
the Hazare movement hopefully is self-rectification
by the ''democratic State'' in the face of this challenge.
However, the Hazare group's assault on parliamentary
institutions and exclusive emphasis on corruption within
the state machinery, to the exclusion of the corporate
sector and civil society groups, could turn out to be
a part of an agenda of converting Indian democracy into
a ''corporatocracy''.
|
|
| Evading
an Inflation Cure |
| Sep
7th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
changing responses of the government to persisting inflation
suggest that the government has given up on the task
of curbing inflation and expects that people would learn
to live with the phenomenon and adjust. Thus the focus
on the long-run supply constraints in agriculture as
being the reason for the recent inflationary surge is
to evade rather than address the problem of inflation.
|
|
| Grabbing
Global Farmland |
| Sep
7th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
It
is essential to fight the irresponsible and exploitative
behavior manifested by Indian companies involved in
the recent trend in large-scale overseas acquisitions
of farmland and the undemocratic processes underlying
these land grabs. Without this, the struggle for greater
economic justice within India will also be undermined.
|
|
| The
Consequences of Increasing Access to Education |
| Sep
1st 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Globally,
there has been a rise in student enrolments in educational
institutions, which is a welcome improvement. However,
this development gives rise to newer challenges of providing
productive employment to meet the aspirations of the
newly educated youths. Failure to do so can generate
discontent and social tensions that can be destabilizing
factors for all societies in the near future.
|
|
| Global
Disorder and the Indian Economy |
| Aug
25th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
Indian economy is showing the classic signs of a bubble
economy and any small signs of external vulnerability
and economic fragility can cause it to burst. Crucial
possible downsides of the current round of global uncertainty
for India and other emerging markets include the lack
of import demand growth in the US and the EU, renewed
inflows of mobile capital, etc.
|
|
| Is
China next? |
| Aug
10th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
While
some observers expect a collapse of the property boom
in China and a resultant crisis, this seems unlikely
to happen because the state, still a major player in
China, is responding to the danger in more ways than
one.
|
|
| The
Urbanisation Challenge |
| Aug
10th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Addressing
the problems posed by growing ''urbanisation'' is one
of the major challenges for India at present. The country
faces a potentially deadly combination of growing population
in small urban areas with poor or possibly non-existent
facilities and inadequate good quality employment generation.
|
|
| America's
Debt-ceiling Crisis |
| Aug
4th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
compromise between Obama and the Republicans to end
the US debt-ceiling crisis has done great damage in
terms of a sharp regression in income distribution and
a remarkable shift to the Right in the US, as well as
an aggravation of the recession in the world economy.
|
|
| Policy
Inertia, Oil and Inflation |
| Jul
14th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
Union government's reluctance to look for alternate
measures to ease oil price rise fuelled by international
shocks reflects a policy inertia stemming from its deep
faith in the market mechanism. However the state governments
and the consumers who have to bear the additional burden
of such price hikes are at the receiving end.
|
|
| Global
Oil Prices |
| Jul
13th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Recent
price changes in global oil markets are increasingly
affected by forces that have more to do with financial
speculation and expectations than with current movements
in demand and supply. In the current oil price surge,
the real gainers are the financial speculators in oil
futures markets and the big oil companies.
|
|
| Changing
Guard at the IMF? |
| Jul
6th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
change of guard at the IMF would not make a difference
as long as there is no significant change in the Fund's
approach to economic policies. Despite the experience
of continually getting it wrong in so many countries
over so many decades, the Fund is still persisting in
imposing the blatantly counterproductive strategy of
fiscal austerity everywhere.
|
|
| Gassing
the State |
| Jun
29th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Corruption
has reached unprecedented levels and constitutes the
fundamental problem that India is facing today. It stems
from the neoliberal reform that sought to attract private
capital into a lucrative and sensitive area such as
petroleum.
|
|
| Why
is India Suddenly so Angry about Corruption? |
| Jun
18th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Post
liberalisation, market-oriented reforms have delivered
higher aggregate growth but also significantly increased
economic inequality and material insecurity for the
majority of India's population. The recent outrage against
corruption in India reflects a great betrayal felt by
a populace that had been told that the era of neoliberal
economic policies would end vices that were supposedly
associated with greater government involvement in economic
activity.
|
|
| Commodities
and Corruption |
| Jun
6th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Capitalism
is supposed to bring in modernity, which includes a
secular polity. Many have even defended neo-liberal
reforms on the grounds that they hasten capitalist development
and hence our march to modernity. But the incident of
four senior central ministers kow-towing most abjectly
to a ''Baba'' proves that neo-liberal India, far from
countering pre-modernity, is actually strengthening
it. This proves the leftist argument that in countries
embarking late on capitalist development, the bourgeoisie
allies itself with the feudal and semi-feudal elements
that impedes the march to modernity.
|
|
| Trading
Growth for Inflation |
| May
27th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
If
inflation is influenced by global developments, adjusting
domestic interest rates may do little to redress the
problem. The RBI's latest interest rate manoeuvre may
thus end up being successful in contracting demand and
growth, but it is likely to fail to rein in inflation.
|
|
| Depriving
Dalits of their Due |
| May
4th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| The
denial of public resources that are mandated under the
Special Component Plans for Scheduled Castes amounts
to a huge assault on their basic socio-economic rights,
as it forces them to continue to live in squalor and
degradation. |
|
| Politics
in the Digital Age |
| Apr
20th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| While
there is all-round acceptance that corruption needs
to be combated, the recent much-hyped movement for a
bill on the Lok Pal has generated a number of questions,
objections and criticisms. The most important of these
is the fact that corruption in societies such as ours
is not just political, but also structurally embedded.
|
|
| The
Growth-discrimination Nexus |
| Apr
13th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| It
is argued by many that market forces break open age-old
social norms, particularly those of caste and gender.
However, unfortunately, capitalism in India, especially
in its most recent globally integrated variant, has
used social discrimination and exclusion to its own
benefit, to take forward the growth story. |
|
| Socialist
and/or Feminist? |
| Apr
11th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| Across
countries, socialist feminists face a dual struggle:
the need to address and confront the unjust economic
order that is expressed in class societies, and the
simultaneous need to address and confront the constantly
regenerated patterns of gender inequality and subordination. |
|
| Revisiting
Financial Reform |
| Apr
8th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| India
is doing away with specialised development banking institutions
on the grounds that equity and bond markets would finance
industrial development. This is bound to lead to a shortfall
in finance for long-term investments, especially for
medium and small enterprises. The experience of countries
such as Brazil, which has thus far not opted for this
trajectory, may be educative. |
|
| Why
West Bengal Needs a Left Government |
| Apr
4th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| It
is not only for taking forward the struggle for democracy
but also the successful achievements of the Left government
in the areas of land distribution and health that West
Bengal should have a government headed by a revitalised
Left Front. It is essential to consolidate these achievements
and move forward, rather than allow them to be dissipated
or even reversed. |
|
| The
Onion Price Rise: What actually made us cry? |
| Feb
21st 2011, Ann
Mary John |
|
| It
is unfair to hold only supply side factors responsible
for the upswings in onion prices. Food price inflation
can be seen to have been caused by the government's
action (inaction) and not by the emerging domestic demand
or the unfortunate supply side conditions alone. |
|
| Teaser
Mania |
| Feb
9th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| The
Reserve Bank of India's advice to banks to withdraw
loans offered with teaser interest rates comes as a
precautionary measure to avoid any crisis of the sub-prime
type as India remains prone to such crises. Substantial
retail lending by Indian banks using teaser rate loans,
especially to the housing market, has led to this apprehension. |
|
| The
Paradox of Capitalism |
| Feb
4th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| The
fact that the bulk of the world's population continues
to struggle for subsistence is because of the incubus
of an exploitative social order; but this is often obscured
by analyses that continue to cling to the illusion that
the logic of compound interest will overcome the ''economic
problem of mankind''. |
|
| Is
the MNREGS Affecting Rural Wages? |
| Feb
4th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| Despite
numerous problems with the implementation of the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the
Scheme has borne some positive results. Ironically,
the moderate success of the Scheme in improving the
conditions and bargaining power of rural labour, including
that of women workers, has now become another source
of its criticism. |
|
| Policy
Paralysis and Inflation |
| Feb
3rd 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| The
price trends over the last one-and-a-half years suggest
that inflation is being driven by factors which are
structurally embedded in the economic environment generated
by the government's neoliberal reform agenda adopted
for two decades now. Further, neoliberal thinking is
leading not only to policy paralysis and absurd reasoning,
but also to policy responses that are contrary to what
is needed. |
|
| Diluting
the Right to Food |
| Feb
2nd 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| In
its task of formulating the Food Security Bill, the
National Advisory Council has ended up recognizing the
supply constraints that could hinder implementation
of the bill which guarantees universal access to food
through a public distribution system. |
|
| Going
after the Little Guys |
| Jan
13th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| In
order to control their large volume of non-performing
assets (most of which are loans made to large corporate
houses), several commercial banks in India are selling
off their small NPA accounts to private players at a
large discount. By doing so, the banks are indirectly
putting great pressure on the small scale producers,
the middle class families and other similar groups for
repayment instead of the large defaulters. |
|
| The
Criminalization of Dissent |
| Jan
13th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| The
official position idealising economic growth as a national
goal and vilifying any opposition to it as anti-national,
is reification. But, equally importantly, it is dangerous,
both because it criminalizes ideological dissent and
because it implicitly justifies corporate control over
the State. |
|
| Food
Inflation and Agricultural Swaraj |
| Jan
3rd 2011, Rahul
Goswami |
|
| The
price of a basket of staple foods has become crippling
in rural and urban India. The government's response
is to favour agri-commodity markets, greater retail
investment and more technology inputs. For food growers
and consumers alike, the need for genuine farm swaraj
has never been greater. |
|
|
Archives >> |
| |
