In the Name of the South: India's aggressive economic
diplomacy
Mar 26th 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar

India's government has since the year of its G20 Presidency claimed to have restored the country's role as the 'Voice of the South' in global dialogues. That is often backed up by reference to its efforts to focus attention on the problem of debt stress and default in poor developing countries, and to the induction of the African Union into the G20.

Federal Fracture: A nation in crisis
Feb 22nd 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar

Indian federalism is on the verge of breakdown. Ministers from opposition-ruled States have taken to the streets in New Delhi to protest against discrimination by the Centre.

The Budget and the Inversion of Reason

Feb 12th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik

The BJP government holds that truth is what Modi says; if evidence points otherwise then evidence must be wrong and should be suppressed. Modi says that India never had it so good as during the last decade of his government; but since official statistics contradict him, the statistics must be wrong and the statistical system must be changed.

Distress and Displacement in Times of War
Feb 9th 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar

Recruitment drives held over the last week of January, in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and Rohtak in Haryana, for Indian workers to undertake construction and caregiver jobs in Israel have captured global attention.

The Question of Pensions
Jan 15th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik

We observe a strange phenomenon everyday, so strange that its strangeness goes generally unnoticed. Government spokespersons from the prime minister downwards go on repeating ad nauseam that India is the most rapidly growing major economy in the world today, that it will soon become a 5 trillion dollar economy, and that it has overtaken China in terms of the growth rate of the gross domestic product.

An Education Policy for Colonising Minds
Jan 1st 2024, Prabhat Patnaik

Imperialist hegemony over the third world is exercised not just through arms and economic might but also through the hegemony of ideas, by making the victims see the world the way imperialism wants them to see it.

The Vacuity of the Free Trade Argument
Dec 25th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

Imagine a country that is exposed to relatively unrestricted trade. There are two obvious problems that it can face because of this trade policy: the first is a balance of payments problem because its exports are insufficient relative to its imports.

The Pervasiveness of Poverty in India
Nov 27th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

One of the striking findings of the Bihar Caste Survey, which bears out what the Left has been asserting for a long time, is that absolute poverty in the country is far more pervasive than what successive governments in India have been claiming.

The Growing Crisis of Unemployment
Nov 13th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

In an economy like ours where the work-force is not neatly divided into "the employed" and "the unemployed", and instead there is massive and growing casualisation of work, measuring unemployment is a tricky business.

Fascistic Hostility to Evidence
Oct 30th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

All fascistic outfits have one common characteristic: they reject outright all evidence that goes against the narrative they spin; and the Hindutva elements in power in India are no exception.

When Numbers are Treated as Political Weapons
Oct 19th 2023, Jayati Ghosh

India has a robust and admired statistical system. But the government is suppressing data to suit its narrative. It is perilous not to know the reality of the governed.

Globalised Capital and National Leadership
Oct 9th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

One of the most intriguing questions at present is why Europe's political leadership has become complicit in what appear to be US efforts at undermining European economies.

Destroying Forests for Profits
Oct 2nd 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

The Modi government, ever solicitous of corporate interests, has launched a plan whereby real estate developers and other corporates will be allowed to destroy large swathes of India’s forest cover for starting projects that rake in profits.

The Silences of the Delhi Declaration
Sep 18th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

The G-20 meeting in Delhi was occurring in the midst of an acute economic crisis of the world economy. The advanced capitalist economies are expected by the IMF to witness a growth slowdown from 2.7 per cent in 2022 to 1.3 per cent in 2023.

Believing One's Own False Theories
Sep 11th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

Liberal bourgeois writers tend to explain the problems that arise under capitalism not by the immanent tendencies of the system but by the capriciousness of particular governments.

Behind BRICS Expansion
Sep 4th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

At the Johannesburg summit of the BRICS countries, it was decided to expand the group beyond its original five, namely, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, to include six more countries. These are: Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Destruction of Universities
Aug 28th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

When BJP rule in the country is dead and gone, a good deal of the damage it has caused to the Indian society, polity and economy will no doubt be reversed. But there are at least two areas where such reversal will be difficult.

The IMF Bias: Signals from Pakistan
Aug 11th 2023, C.P. Chandrasekhar

On July 14 this year, the shaky government of a debt-stressed Pakistan, won itself a surprising reprieve. The country had experienced a collapse in foreign reserves to less than one month worth of imports and was on the verge of defaulting on its external debt of more than $120 billion.

The Problem with "Universal Basic Income"
Aug 6th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

Many economists have been advocating a universal basic income for India, an idea that was mooted even in the official Economic Survey for 2016-17.

The Poverty of UN Poverty Estimates
Jul 31st 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

On April 3 this year, the minister of state for planning, Rao Inderjeet Singh, said in the Rajya Sabha that the government had no data after 2011-12 for estimating poverty, and therefore had no idea how many people had been lifted out of poverty since then.

Addressing Default: Lessons from an opaque experience
Jul 11th 2023. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

The decision to allow banks to settle with willful defaulters and fraudsters reveals the actual stance of the government on ‘rescuing’ corporate debtors. The hype around the IBC conceals that.

Is What We have "Crony Capitalism"?
Jul 10th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

Fascistic elements exist in every modern society, but usually as fringe, marginal or minor elements. They move centre-stage only when they get the support of monopoly capital which provides them with ample money and media coverage; and this happens when there is a capitalist crisis that substantially increases unemployment.

The Implications of Dollar Hegemony
Jun 26th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

How exactly is the dollar’s status as reserve currency related to imperialism? This question has two parts: how this status of the dollar is related to U.S. imperialism, and how it is related to the overall imperialist arrangement.

On the FDI Route to Manufacturing Success
Jun 13th 2023. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

In its efforts to boost India's underdeveloped manufacturing sector, the government has been emphasising the role of foreign direct investment. But the strategy is not working.

The Q4 GDP Estimates for 2022-23
Jun 12th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

The estimates of India's Gross Domestic Product for the fourth quarter of 2023 were released on May 31. These show a growth rate of 6.1 per cent over the fourth quarter of the previous year, which is higher than the 4.4 per cent growth that the October-December quarter had recorded over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The Grim Unemployment Scenario
May 8th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

The data on unemployment brough out by the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE) present a grim picture. Not only has the unemployment rate increased sharply for some years now, starting from even before the pandemic, but the figure which had shot up during the pandemic has not come down much despite the recovery that has occurred in the level of GDP from its trough.

Whatever happened at the Spring Meetings?
May 4th 2023, C. P. Chandrasekhar

Ministers, central bankers, officials and civil society activists returning home from Washington after the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund held in April 2023 were not clear as to what the outcomes of the meetings, however minor, were.

The Potential of Tax Reform in Latin America
May 2nd 2023. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

Recent changes in some Latin American tax regimes, especially in Colombia, provide useful pointers for taxation strategies in other developing countries.

Threats to the Hegemony of the Dollar
May 1st 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

Janet Yellen, the US treasury secretary, has finally acknowledged what has been obvious to most people for quite some time, namely that the imposition of sanctions against countries that the US is hostile to, runs the risk of jeopardising the hegemony of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

The Current State of India's Economy
Apr 24th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

Government officials never tire of repeating that India is currently the fastest growing major economy in the world. What they never mention is the fact that India had witnessed perhaps the sharpest absolute drop in GDP among the major economies of the world in 2020-21.

The Rubber Farmers' Woes
Apr 10th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

Rubber prices, which had recovered a little after the fall during the pandemic, have collapsed again, with the farmers in Kerala, which grows 80 per cent of the country's rubber crop, being badly hit.

The "Hindu Rate of Growth": Then and now
Mar 20th2023, Prabhat Patnaik

For a large part of the dirigiste period, the gross domestic product of the Indian economy grew at a rate of around 4 per cent per annum or less, which, though an improvement compared to the colonial era that had witnessed virtual stagnation, was not very impressive.

Analysing the Adani Debacle
Mar 6th2023, Sunanda Sen

It comes close to a fairytale as one starts narrating the meteoric rise and fall of the Adani Group in terms of its changing fortunes or valuations in the market.

Treating Infrastructure as a Holy Cow
Mar 6th2023, Prabhat Patnaik

There is an impression shared by even progressive intellectuals that the entity that goes by the name of “physical infrastructure” is an absolute necessity in each country, and that the actual amount of infrastructure that exists is always less than what is needed.

Can Investments be Free of Risk?
Feb 22nd 2023, Jayati Ghosh and Anand Srinivasan

Recently, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court put forth the idea of setting up an expert committee that could recommend ways to protect common investors from market events.

The Crisis of India's Oligarchy
Feb 22nd 2023, Jayati Ghosh

Over the past two decades, Indian multi-billionaire Gautam Adani's close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi have helped the Gujarati businessman become Asia's wealthiest person.

Pakistan's Debt Crisis: No resolution in sight
Feb 21st 2023. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

The IMF cannot resolve Pakistan's debt crisis, though it is influencing policy on the grounds that it can.

Finance Minister's Misleading Statement
Feb 20th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

A strike on the Adani group by short-seller the U.S.-based Hindenburg Research has led to the unravelling of the Gautam Adani story, which celebrated the spectacular rise, in an extremely short period of time, of the wealth of a man and his business empire.

The Adani Story and Indian Neoliberalism
Feb 15th 2023, C.P. Chandrasekhar

A strike on the Adani group by short-seller the U.S.-based Hindenburg Research has led to the unravelling of the Gautam Adani story, which celebrated the spectacular rise, in an extremely short period of time, of the wealth of a man and his business empire.

"Crony Capitalism" As an Economic Strategy
Feb 13th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

Gautam Adani's calling Hindenburg's allegations of fraud against him an attack on the Indian nation is a matter of particular significance. Just before this episode, the BBC documentary on Modi had been labelled a product of the colonial mindset by the government and hence also construed to be an attack on the Indian nation.

The Abuse of the Concept of "Populism"
Jan 23rd 2023, Prabhat Patnaik

All regimes based on class antagonism require a discourse to legitimise class oppression and this discourse in turn requires a vocabulary of its own. The neoliberal regime too has developed its own discourse and vocabulary and a key concept in this vocabulary is "populism".

Davos Man Must Pay
Jan 18th 2023, Jayati Ghosh

To mitigate the worst effects of climate change and prevent societal breakdown, we must shift to renewable energies and reduce extreme inequality. But doing so would require massive increases in public spending, which is why governments must overhaul their outdated and regressive tax systems.

The Real Failure at Sharm El-Sheikh
Dec 13th 2022, C.P. Chandrasekhar

As COP27, the climate summit at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, ended after a being prolonged, assessments of what it achieved were mixed. But the overwhelming sense was that the summit had yielded little, since on most counts it had not gone beyond the pledges agreed to at COP26 held in Glasgow last year and incorporated in the Glasgow Climate Pact.

The Triumph of the City?
Nov 7th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

The triumph of the City of London, the one square kilometre next to Liverpool Street station that houses the citadel of British finance, is complete. Not only did it get rid of one British prime minister, whom it distrusted, in the space of just 44 days, but even got a new one of its choice installed forthwith.

Whatever Happened to Liz Truss?
Oct 31st 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

The most intriguing question with regard to Liz Truss’ resignation as the prime minister of Britain after a mere 44 days in office is this: what is it about her economic programme that the ''market'' (read ''finance capital'') found unpalatable? At its core after all was tax-cuts for the rich, which the ''market'' should have lapped up.

The New Threat on the Foreign Exchange Front
Oct 3rd 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

On September 23, the value of the rupee vis-à-vis the dollar fell to a new low: it crossed 81 to a dollar after some weeks of relative stability when it hovered between 79 and 80. And it fell despite the Reserve Bank's running down of foreign exchange reserves in a bid to hold up its value.

Europe's Economic Hara-Kiri
Sep 26th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

The cessation of natural gas supplies from Russia to Europe in retaliation against Western sanctions imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine war, is threatening Europe not only with a winter with inadequate heating that will take a big toll in terms of lives among poor people, but also with large-scale closures of enterprises; such closures would push up the unemployment rate, and significantly increase poverty and destitution among the workers.

On Loan apps and Crypto Criminals
Aug 31st 2022, C. P. Chandrasekhar

India's enforcement directorate, still preoccupied with unearthing corruption and money laundering among opposition politicians, has decided to turn its attention to those involved in the crypto business in the country as well.

The Modi Government and the So-Called "Freebies"
Aug 29th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

A Bizarre drama is unfolding in front of our eyes. The Modi government which has been giving away hundreds of thousands of crores of rupees as tax concessions to the monopolists has expressed its opposition ironically to what it calls "freebies", that is to handing over subsidies to other segments of the population.

Will the GST Regime Fail?
Aug 23rd 2022. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

At the end of the five-year period in which states were being compensated for shortfalls in GST revenues relative to targets, they are on the verge of a fiscal crisis. That could spell the end of the GST regime.

Sanctions and the Decline of the Dollar
Aug 22nd 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

The hegemony of the US dollar was based on the fact that the world's wealth-holders considered it to be "as good as gold", even when it was no longer officially convertible to gold at a fixed rate, as it had been under the Bretton Woods system, after the collapse of that system.

"Heads I Win, Tails You Lose"
Jun 20th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

The craftiness of imperialism is boundless. In several countries of the world at present there are neo-fascist governments, propped up by their respective big bourgeoisies (all aligned to globalized capital), and implementing neo-liberal policies with their characteristic ruthlessness; in many other countries there are neo-fascist outfits attempting to get into power by promising to their big bourgeois patrons that they would do the same if in power.

The Indian Economy is Heading for a Stationary State
Jun 13th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

Adam Smith and David Ricardo had been haunted by the idea of capitalism ending up in a "stationary state", by which they meant a stable state of zero growth. Marx used the term "simple reproduction" to describe such a state, where there is no net addition to production capacity and the economy just reproduces itself at the same level period after period.

Misreading FDI Numbers
May 31st 2022. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

The government's celebration of record levels of FDI inflows in 2021-22 as indication of the strength of the Indian economy misreads the numbers that point to several underlying weaknesses in India's external account.

Tendency towards the Emergence of an “International” Middle Class
May 30th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

The chancellor of the exchequer of Britain, whose official residence is only next door to the British prime minister's, is Rishi Sunak, a person of Indian origin. Britain's home secretary is Priti Patel, also of Indian origin.

Roots of the Sri Lankan Debt Trap
May 3rd 2022. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

Having embraced neoliberal reform in the late 1970s, Sri Lanka had privileged access to large borrowing from the IMF and private financial markets. Exploiting that privilege has proved to be a poison pill.

A World Economy in Disarray
May 2nd 2022, C. P. Chandrasekhar

When the world's financial leaders met mid-April at Washington for the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the mood was one of gloom.

Reflections on the Sri Lankan Economic Crisis
May 2nd 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

So much has been written on the Sri Lankan economic crisis that the facts are by now quite well-known (see for instance C P Chandrasekhar, Frontline April 22): the massive build-up of external debt; the huge Value Added Tax concessions that pushed up the fiscal deficit and made the government borrow abroad even to spend domestically;

Panic about Petrol Prices
Apr 19th 2022. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

Governments of rich countries are the ones showing the greatest panic in responding to rising global oil prices, but the relative price of petrol is already much higher is low and middle income countries with bigger poor populations.

The Hike in Petrol Prices
Apr 4th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

In the five days ending March 26, petrol and diesel prices in the country had been hiked four times, with more such daily hikes in the offing. On each occasion the hike had been by 80 paise per litre, so that the total increase during the week had been Rs 3.20 per litre, bringing the price per litre of petrol to Rs 98.61 and of diesel to Rs 89.87 in the capital city, Delhi.

The IMF Connection with the Ukraine Crisis
Mar 7th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

The IMF, it follows, has changed dramatically since its foundation. When it began at Bretton Woods in 1944, it was part of an international system based on the pursuit of a dirigiste economic agenda.

Imperialism as an Abiding Phenomenon
Feb 28th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

Neocolonialism was a good fit for the 1950s and 1960s. The word "imperialism" is no longer applicable because recent years have been marked by peaceful discussions between countries rather than coercion by some over others.

Co-lending: Towards recolonising the peasantry
Jan 10th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

The SBI-Adani deal is a way of changing the pattern of land use in agriculture by channelling government institutional credit through the domestic corporate-financial oligarchy. Such nationalised banks-NBFC deals are aimed at achieving what the farm laws could not achieve; these must be vehemently opposed.

Yet Another Contradiction of Capitalism
Jan 3rd 2022, Prabhat Patnaik

Keynes believed that mass unemployment under capitalism could be prevented through state intervention; but even in the US, the ability of the State to stimulate domestic economic activity has become constrained. This is a new basic contradiction that has emerged in world capitalism and deserves serious attention.

The Strangulation of the MGNREGS
Dec 6th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

No matter how government spending is financed, a rupee of government expenditure is better spent on the MGNREGS than on any other expenditure item. The Modi government alas is too blind to see this.

The Peasantry's Victory over Imperialism
Nov 29th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

The significance of the kisan movement extends beyond the immediate context. It obviously is a climbdown by the Modi government in the face of the incredible resoluteness shown by the agitating peasants. At another level it has been a setback for the neoliberal agenda that the farm laws were seeking to promote.

Peasants and the Revolution
Oct 4th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

There have been significant developments in Marxist theory regarding the revolutionary role of peasantry in the transcendence of capitalism. The peasant struggle in India too is not an ordinary one; it compels the government to openly declare who it stands with - the people or international big business.

The Unravelling of the Modi Arrangement
Sep 20th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

Liberal commentators related Modi's rise with the ascendency of Hindutva. However, Modi rose to power through this ascendency as the person who cemented the corporate-Hindutva alliance, meditating between corporate capital and the RSS. Modi is an intermediary used by the Indian big bourgeoisie to bring about this alliance.

Everything for Sale
Sep 13th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

Everywhere in the world, public assets that provide basic services to the people, are virtually free, but no longer in India. Behind this bizarre Indian exceptionalism is the Modi government's peculiar agenda to turn everything into a commodity. Nothing is sacrosanct, nothing is hallowed, nothing transcends the market; everything is for sale.

Neo-liberalism and Nationhood
Aug 30th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

The anti-colonial nationalism that informed the struggle for liberation in third world countries was of an entirely different genre from the bourgeois nationalism of seventeenth century Europe. However, there is a tendency in the West to treat all "nationalism" as a homogeneous and reactionary category.

Equality and Scarcity
Aug 9th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

Long queues of consumers in socialist economies were a source of derision in the West and were attributed to the inefficiency of the socialist system. However, it was not caused by any inefficiencies; it reflected the fact that the system was concerned about keeping down the inequality in income distribution.

Neo-liberalism and the Extreme Right
Jul 19th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

There has been an upsurge of extreme right-wing, fascist parties worldwide in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s. Fascist governments invariably serve the interests of monopoly capital. However the contemporary extreme right movements eschew any Right-radical rhetoric from the very beginning, unlike their earlier counterparts.

The Long Search for Stability: Financial cooperation to address global risks in the East Asian region
Apr 16th 2021. C.P. Chandrasekhar

After the 1997 Southeast Asian crisis, the region recognized the need for a regional financial safety net independent of the United States and the IMF to mitigate future crises. The emergence of China as a regional and global power, with its independence from the US, improve the prospects for it.

How China is Offering an Alternative to the IMF
Apr 16th 2021, C.P. Chandrasekhar

The People's Bank of China's network of local currency swap arrangements provide Asian countries with a much-needed safety net, while also strengthening China's diplomatic position.

Ruling Classes and Concern for the Poor
Apr 12th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

The pandemic and the associated lockdown meant a drop in GDP and tax revenue both in the West and in India. However, there is a world of difference between the support provided by the two governments. The fiscal packages need to be examined to discover the scale of discretionary fiscal support for the poor.

The Political Economy of Covid-19 Vaccines
Mar 6th 2021. Jayati Ghosh

Blatant vaccine grab by rich countries; protection of patent rights by governments in advanced countries and the use of vaccine distribution to promote 'soft power' have exposed and intensified global inequalities; but a pandemic can be overcome only when it is overcome everywhere.

Biden's Rescue Package
Feb 1st 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

Even before taking office, US President Joe Biden announced a rescue package that involves transfers to the working people and shall be financed by taxing the rich. This is in sharp contrast to the Modi government's callous policy vis-à-vis the people.

The Corporate-Hindutva Alliance and the Peasants
Jan 18th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

The agricultural bills impose a shift on farmers from food to cash crops that would destroy the public distribution system, but that is not what the Indian farmers or even consumers desire at present. We are witnessing a bizarre situation of the government versus people, instead of the usual people versus people.

Engels on the Peasant War in Germany
Jan 18th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik

At a time when the Indian peasants are engaged in a valiant and peaceful struggle for the repeal of the Central government's three agricultural laws, it is important to recall Friedrich Engels' study of the peasant war in Germany in 1525.

Countering the Corporate-hindutva Narrative on the Nation
Dec 21st 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

The kisan agitation in no longer simply a fight for MSP or against the corporatization of agriculture, it is a movement against the hegemonic narrative promoted under the neo-liberal Modi government.

A Strike against the Discourse of Unreason
Nov 30th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

The November 26 strike is significant not only because it protests against the Modi government's brazen attacks on workers and peasants in the country, that carry forward an imperialist agenda, but also because it dissents against the anti-democratic and anti-secular nature of the Hindutva forces.

Immiserization behind the Recovery
Nov 23rd 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

Ministers as well as the Reserve Bank of India have seen signs of recovery in the Indian economy, but there, of course, had to be a recovery from the deep abyss to which the lockdown had pushed the economy, as some degree of normalcy returned; it is no reflection of any virtue of the government.

Discrimination and Bias in Economics, and Emerging Responses
Nov 19th 2020. Jayati Ghosh

Jayati Ghosh discusses the forms of discrimination and bias that are rampant in economics and enlists some networks that are challenging the rigidities and power structures within the mainstream discipline.

Capitalism and Inheritance
Nov 9th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

It is often believed that the ability to pass on property to one's progeny is an essential element of capitalism, without which the capitalists' incentives will dry up and the system will lose its dynamism and nothing could be further from the truth.

One Hundred Years of Indian Communism
Oct 19th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

Prabhat Patnaik discusses the proletariat's relationship with different segments of the bourgeoisie and the peasantry and the Communist Party's tactics towards other political forces, over the last one hundred years of the existence of communism in India.

The Move towards a de Facto Unitary State
Oct 5th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

Federalism is one of the basic features of the Indian Constitution, but the tendency of the Centre to encroach on the domain of the states has intensified to such an extent under the Hindutva forces and the corporate-financial oligarchy, that the country is being pushed towards a de facto unitary State.

Modi's Agriculture Bills Push Imperialist Agenda
Sep 28th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

The two bills rammed through parliament last week were not only anti-democratic in nature, but also exploitative. It leaves millions of peasants at the mercy of private buyers by opening them up to monopsonistic exploitation.

The Protracted Crisis of Capitalism
Aug 31st 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

The current crisis in capitalism is not because of the pandemic, but due to the operation of neoliberalism that increased the share of economic surplus in output by keeping the real wage rates unchanged, even while labour productivity increased. The existence of an over-production crisis predating the pandemic has only made things worse.

An Elementary Misconception about the Hindu Rashtra
Aug 24th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

The Hindu Rastra, that the BJP wants to achieve, will eventually be an authoritarian State, suppressing Hindus and Muslims alike and eventually subjecting them to unprecendented levels of exploitation by international finance capital and domestic corporate-financial oligarchy.

The Hindrance to a New Deal Today
Jul 14th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

A New Deal attempted by any State today through larger fiscal deficit of taxing the rich will run the risk of capital flight and hence financial crisis. Such an effective opposition by global finance will require a mobilized working class to overcome.

A Tale of Two Countries
Jul 13th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

The contrast in responses to the BLM movement in the U.S. and the anti-CAA anti-NRC protests in India has to do with the fact that the “educated bourgeoisie” in the U.S. has been more punctilious in playing a democratic role than its Indian counterparts.

The World at Crossroads
Jun 2nd 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

The dead-end of neoliberalism, which is visible to even bourgeois thinkers in the metropolis now, is invisible to the Modi government still on the authoritarian-fascist track. Even the revival of post-war "welfare capitalism" will require a struggle by the working class.

A Dangerous Courses
May 11th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

While state governments are expected to meet all the Covid-related expenditure, they have not even been given their legally mandated GST compensation. This centralizing tendency of the BJP govt harms not just the states but the federal consciousness of India.

The End of Globalization
May 8th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

Globalised finance was known to increase inequality and create economic volatility. The pandemic has shown that it can even make crucial state intervention impossible in a major crisis. People everywhere have a choice of submitting to its hegemony or striving for a new class equilibrium.

Finance's Preference for the Metropolis
May 4th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

Globalized finance, by nature, prevent welfare spending by third world governments and enforces their subservience vis-a-vis advanced economies. Delinking from current globalization therefore tantamount to freedom from hegemony of finance capital.

New FDI Norms in Time of COVID – Good Economics or Geopolitics?
May 4th 2020, Sunanda Sen

There is ample evidences to suggest that Chinese investments in India have been a help to employment rather than to casino finance. Hence, new FDI norms which corner China do not qualify as good economics in crisis time.

Pandemic and Socialism
Apr 1st 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

To face of a pandemic created by globalization under the aegis of capitalism, most countries are taking a socialist turn. Global economic and humanitarian crises like these suggest an end-game for the free-market system.

Oil Shock Reversed
Mar 30 2020, C.P. Chandrasekhar

In a dramatic post-Coronavirus-pandemic turn, the agreement between OPEC and some non-OPEC oil exporters has collapsed, causing global demand-supply imbalances and depressed prices. Back home Indian governments’ response of raising excise duty on fuel might intensify the recession.

The Uses of "Populism"
Mar 2nd 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

The term "populism" which was used by the Left to refer to a perspective that saw the "people" as undifferentiated in class terms, has been transformed. It now is used as a concept that underplays the viciousness of Right-wing supremacism.

Capitalism, Socialism and Over-production
Feb 17th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

Over-production under capitalism occurs because of speculative investments and the multiplier effect that follows. As both these factors are eliminated under socialism, Soviet Union, with all its defects, never experienced unemployment.

Layers within the Corporate-financial Oligarchy
Feb 3rd 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

Fascist regimes are based on solid support of monopoly capital and the contradictions within it. It is no surprise that even in the midst of crisis, Modi government’s only concern is corporate gains through massive tax cuts.

JG Interview with Sampath- The Hindu 
Jan 7th 2020.

In an interview with The Hindu, Jayati Ghosh talks about her life experiences, her views about global economic slowdown and the role of fiscal deficit in resolving demand scarcity, and the importance of JNU within a system of crony capitalism.

Demand-constrained versus Supply-constrained Systems
Jan 5th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik

Unemployment and food shortage that plague the neo-liberal economies of today are indeed effects of a demand-constrained system. Essentially characterised by underutilized capacity, capitalism can never have a shortage of finance, which is artificially imposed by international finance capital.

India's Rank on the Global Hunger Index
Oct 28th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

"Global Hunger Index 2019 unambiguously concludes that India ranks lowest among all South Asian countries and that there has been an alarming increase in child "wasting". The government's callous approach to this has its roots in the institutionalized inequality of the Indian caste system."

A Counter-productive Measure
Oct 9th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

The Modi government's "fiscal stimulus" in the form of corporate tax cut is likely to aggravate the economic crisis. What needs to be done is the opposite: an increase in government welfare expenditure financed by taxing the rich.

RCEP: A dangerous drift
Sep 25th 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar

Staying out of the RCEP is the best option for India. While damaging for some sectors, the terms would preclude measures required to raise India's export competitiveness.

The Destruction of Fiscal Federalism
Sep 17th 2019, Jayati Ghosh

The unprecedented additions to the terms of reference for the 15th Finance Commission continue the Modi government's attempts at fiscal centralisation and denial of resources to states.

The 15th Finance Commission and Defence Expenditure
Sep 2nd 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Changing the terms of reference of the finance commission so as to make the states pay for defence and internal security is unconstitutional and will squeeze the state governments.

Some Comments about Marx’s Epistemology
Aug 30th, 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Marx saw the necessary incompatibility between capitalism and human freedom: a contradiction that is becoming all too evident today.

Article 370 and Kashmir's Land Reformss
Aug 19th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Instead of being an obstacle to "development" as argued by Amit Shah, Article 370 has enabled J&K to be among the states with lowest rural-poverty-ratio and among the best performing states in a whole range of other social indicators.

The Roots of Economic Pessimism
Aug 16th, 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar

Growth optimism about the Indian economy and the post-election speculative boom in the stock market are reversing because the perceptions on which they were built are now proving wrong.

Amit Shah's Economics
Aug 13th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Ending Kashmir's special status and repealing Article 35 A will not lead to "development" or increase in employment; instead, more crime associated with land speculation and rising terrorism will make prospects bleaker.

The Indian Economy is Blaring Warnings, but the Modi Government Remains in Denial
Aug 9th 2019, Jayati Ghosh

While the government was busy celebrating cosmetic measures like 'ease of doing business' ranking, the real economy tanked.

A Striking Contrast
Aug 8th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Karnataka is the latest instance of the commoditization of politics in India. This can only change with pressure from the masses based on genuinely alternative politics.

A False Theory
Aug 2nd, 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

The argument made by votaries of finance capital, that government borrowing crowds out private investment, is analytically false and driven only by ideology.

India's withering Public Employment 
Jul 30th 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

Government's strategy of leaving public employment posts vacant to save on the potential wage bill is deeply irresponsible and unjust.

Fifty Years after Bank Nationalization
Jul 22nd 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Nationalised banks' NPAs arise not because of their "irresponsible" lending practices but because of changed government policies.
The Exploitation Time Bomb 
Jul 18th 2019, Jayati Ghosh

The self-reinforcing pattern of high profits, low investment, and rising inequality poses a threat not only to economic growth, but also to democracy, argues Jayati Ghosh.

The Current Eclipse of the Left
Jul 11th, 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Prabhat Patnaik explains the reasons for the declining strength of the Left in India and suggests what the Left should do to revive itself.

The Debate over Inequlity 
Jul 8th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Prabhat Patnaik points out that while the debate over inequality has become hotter elsewhere in the world, in India, there is very little noise about it despite a massive rise in inequality after economic liberalisation.

Modi's Electoral Triumph
Jun 4th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Indians have voted for Modi the concept, not the man. Prabhat Patnaik shows how the myth of Modi has been manufactured to fulfil people's needs, even as their lived reality worsens.

The Global Shift to the Right
Jun 3rd 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Prabhat Patnaik argues that no matter how politically successful across the world the Right is today, it is incapable of leading people out of the current state of crisis and unemployment.

An Ominous Tendency
May 27th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

A militaristic concept of nationalism that sees any questioning of the armed forces as "anti-national", is fundamentally anti-democratic. Prabhat Patnaik shows that it is far removed from the anti-colonial nationalism that founded independent India, with its emphasis on democracy and people's sovereignty.

The Gathering Storm Clouds of Recession
May 27th, 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Prabhat Patnaik argues that industrial recession in India is inevitable under neo-liberalism - and it is likely to worsen because neoliberalism makes finding resources for fiscal expansion difficult.

Warning Signs from External Trade 
May 21st 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh points out that India's rising gold imports are primarily responsible for its growing trade deficit; so far no action has been taken by the Modi government to prevent these unnecessary imports.

The Significance of the Transfer Schemes
Apr 29th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Prabhat Patnaik explains that the transfer schemes being mooted by the congress and the BJP are indicative of the crisis of neoliberal capitalism, with evidence that whatever the level of growth under the regime, the poor are unlikely to benefit. But neoliberalism also prevents the mobilisation of resources to finance such schemes, deepening the crisis.

The Political Economy of the Modi Regime
Apr 2nd 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar

C.P. Chandrasekhar argues that the five years of the Modi-led NDA regime was characterised not just by the consolidation and advance of Hindutva forces but a growing nexus between the state and big capital that intensified the depredations of neoliberal capitalism, camouflaged by diversionary measures like demonetisation.

The Modi Years
Apr 2nd 2019, Prabhat Patnaik

Prabhat Patnaik argues that rolling back of fascification of our society requires much more than the defeat of the Hindutva forces in the coming elections; it requires above all a programme that provides relief to the people from the depredations of neo-liberal capitalism.

Social Responsibility of Intellectuals in Building Counter-Hegemonies 
Feb 4th 2019, Issa Shivji

In a period of upsurge of fascism, narrow nationalism and parochialism, Issa Shivji calls for the social responsibility of intellectuals to construct a counter-hegemonic project that would resonate with the lives of the vast majority.

The Boundaries of Welfare
Feb 4th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik
Interim budget indicates that the government's electoral strategy is to win over the 'intermediate classes' while ignoring the poor.
The Motivated Murder of India's Statistical System
Jan 31st 2019, Jayati Ghosh

Government's suppression of all the relevant statistics is harming citizens, economy and the government itself.

The Strange form of "Disinvestment"
Jan 30th, 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar

Under the NDA government disinvestment is increasingly turning out to be a process in which surpluses are wrung out of PSEs or government linked institutions to support the budget, instead of the usual route of sale to private buyers. Apart from adversely affecting the modernization and expansion plans of PSEs, this change in the nature of disinvestment does not enable the government to raise its expenditure to the desired levels in a pre-election year.

Some 'Reservations' on the Modi Government's Reservation for 'Economically Weaker Sections'
Jan 25th 2019, Surajit Mazumdar

The Modi government's move to provide reservation for 'economically weaker sections' is a naked attempt to fortify its electoral prospects by creating an upper caste consolidation. This measure is largely for propaganda purposes and has little benefits to offer to anyone given the Modi government's poor record even on public employment.

The furore over farm debt
Jan 4th 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar

Agrarian crisis is a direct result of the neo-liberal fiscal regime, which advocates tax incentives for finance, the corporate sector, and the rich in general, and tight control over government borrowing; all this has resulted in long-term neglect of agriculture. Now the measures to provide relief to farmers are being opposed by neo-liberal advocates on the grounds that it will violate fiscal prudence and yet not resolve the problem created by neo liberal fiscal regime in the first place.

Criticism and Criticism
Dec 28th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik

The Modi government's demonetization move has been universally criticized, but there are significant differences between a neoliberal critique focused on the impact on GDP and the Left's assessment that looks at the impact on people.

The Modi government, the RBI governor and the mess that is the Indian economy
Dec 11 th 2018, Jayati Ghosh

The resignation of Urjit Patel from the governorship of RBI raises questions about what could have possibly caused such a drastic step. While the tussle between the central bank and the government provides an immediate context, there is a need to look at the depth of the mess that the Indian economy finds itself in.

Contemporary Capitalism and the World of Work 
Dec 4th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Imperialism remains essential to capitalism in all its phases, although its instruments may change from one phase of capitalism to another. When we incorporate imperialism in the Marx's analysis of the dynamics of capitalism, we resolve the puzzle of fall in per capita annual total (both direct and indirect) cereal consumption despite rise in per capita real income. It is because of rise in world poverty along with rise in per capita real incomes.
On taking Sides in the RBI-government Stand-off
Nov 27th 2018, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The government has crossed the red line in recent times, influenced in part by the mess its policies have created and substantially by the need to win voter support in the impending elections. This clearly is an area where the RBIs willingness to stand up to the government's demands needs appreciation, But these gestures should not be treated as a spat in which the RBI is free of blame and only the government is remiss. The central bank too needs to shed its biased neoliberal perspective and admit to responsibility for its past acts of commission and omission that have also contributed to the current mess in the economy.
Vilifying the Intelligentsia
Nov 26th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Government's debunking of intellectuals who are not with them amounts in effect to running down all intellectuals: all intellectuals are perceived by them to be actual or potential threats in varying degrees. In short they oppose the very activity of intellection.
Who Should Control India’s Central Bank?
Nov 15th 2018, Jayati Ghosh
The standoff between India's government and the Reserve Bank of India isn't problematic because of the risk of infringing on central-bank independence. It is problematic because, rather than fighting to protect the public interest, the government's goal is to revive irresponsible bank lending, protect its cronies, and win votes.
A Heart-rending Episode 
Nov 14th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
The Bengal famine of 1943 in which 3 million persons died was the direct result of the escalation of British war expenditure on the eastern front. Such massive loss of life could have been avoided if the manner of financing war expenditure had been different. The war expenditure on the eastern front was financed by a "profit inflation" generating "forced savings". Financing war expenditure this way imposed a heavy burden, especially on the poor people of rural Bengal who were net food purchasers. The forced reduction in consumption they had to undergo, entailed a drastic reduction in their foodgrain intake, and hence the famine.
The Modi Government's Spat with the RBI
Nov 12th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
The Modi government's spat with the RBI is rooted in the structural characteristic of neo-liberalism. This entire debate has arisen as a fall-out of neo-liberalism, of the contradictions that inevitably arise in a neo-liberal economy between the compulsion on the part of the government to please international finance and its need to win elections. Expenditures have to be stepped up for the latter, while international finance disapproves of such stepping up.
Emergency 2.0
Aug 30th 2018, Jayati Ghosh
Given the background of failure of the ruling party to fulfil any of its important electoral promises, the recent arrests of lawyers, scholars and human right activists represent the desperate measures by the ruling party to stifle, suppress, and divert all voices of criticism, opposition and dissent.
Finance versus the People
Aug 27th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
There is a fundamental contradiction between democracy and neo-liberal capitalism. This contradiction can be seen from the exuberance of the market with the removal of a challenge to communal authoritarianism.
Ranking Universities
Aug 6th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Ranking universities amounts to detaching them from their social contexts and hence denies the social role of education.
Crop Insurance: Another dressed up scheme
Aug 2nd 2018, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) launched in 2016 which is supplemented with Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS), have failed to deliver what it had promised. The number of farmers insured under this scheme has fallen and the claims paid to farmers has fallen from 98% to 61%. The scheme seems to be benefitting the insurance companies as there has been rise in gross premiums paid to these companies by government.
Empty Promises
Jul 18th 2018, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Together with measures like loan write-offs offered by some BJP States and an ostensibly much-improved crop insurance scheme (PMFBY), this hike in MSPs is seen to have confirmed the pro-farmer tilt of the Narendra Modi government. The timing of the Modi government's MSP hike for kharif crops leads to the question of whether it is backed by the financial allocations needed to deliver on them.
Why didn't Socialism have Over-production Crises?
Jul 2nd 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
The period after 2008 has witnessed prolonged overproduction crisis which was not seen in the old socialist economies. A market driven capitalist economy that has its foundations on the principle of antagonism is the source of this glut.
Trump Versus the Rest
Jun 18th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Donald Trump's protectionist stance at the G-7 summit is an example of how disunited capitalist countries are on a possible solution to the capitalist crisis. Because of the position of the US economy, Trump can afford to hold on to his protectionist policies while enlarging the fiscal deficit. What is wrong about this strategy is the possibility of long term repercussions, not just for America but for the capitalist world as a whole.
A Tale of Two Discourses
Apr 19th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
The Hindutva bubble has clearly burst. Mass demonstrations by peasants, traders, doctors, teachers, students and even school children in the past few days have shown that not only the fear gripping the people is over but also the Indian political discourse is shifting towards material-practical matters, again acquiring a resemblance to what it had been in the pre-Modi years.
Commoditization and the Public Sphere
Apr 2nd 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
The distinction between the sphere of market and the sphere of public discourse remains central to liberalism. But under capitalism, the public sphere becomes untenable due its "spontaneous" destruction by the markets’ immanent tendency towards commoditization, as we are witnessing everywhere today. In such a world, a fight towards democracy is itself a means of advancing the struggle for socialism.
Trump's Protectionism
Mar 26th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Trumps' announcement of tariff hike tantamounts to a beggar-thy-neighbour policy that would inevitably attract retaliation. But these current protectionist measures on capital-in-production do not in any way restrict capital-as-finance. They are just desperate and counter-productive attempts at coping with a crisis, which is itself an outcome of the process of globalization of finance.
The Importance of Dissatisfaction
Mar 17th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
The first step to overthrowing an oppressive system is "epistemic exteriority" or visualizing an alternative system outside of the existing one. But neo-liberal capitalism has been remarkably successful in thwarting such visualization, by proposing "epistemic closure" as an essential component of development.
The UGC Directive on Autonomous Colleges
Mar 12th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Higher education in India is facing a twin danger of commoditization and communalization under the globalized capital today. This tendency is fueled further by the UGC directive that combines commoditization with a push towards centralization that is rampant under the Modi government.
The Tripura Election Verdict
Mar 7th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
The Tripura reverse brings out the fact that it is exceedingly difficult for an opposition party, that has an incumbent government in any state to withstand the onslaught of the BJP, and in between states the one anti-BJP opposition force is different and scattered. For the Left it means a fight for survival.
The Destruction of a University
Feb 28th 2018, Jayati Ghosh
The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has, in the past two years, undermined the norms and conventions that have established it as a premier institution of higher learning in India.
A Dangerous Period
Feb 16th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Contemporary Fascism around the world is emerging as neo-liberal capitalism’s “gift” to mankind in the period of its maturity, when it submerges the world economy in a crisis, and reaches a dead-end from which there is no obvious escape.
Arun Jaitley on Electoral Bonds
Jan 15th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik
Arun Jaitley had outlined a scheme of electoral bonds in his budget speech on February 2, 2017. Now, exactly 11 months later, the notification of the scheme and some details of it have finally been announced in a Press Information Bureau release on January 2, 2018.
The Problem with the Indian Left
Dec 27th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
The current problem with the Indian Left, and in this term I include all sections of the Left, from the so-called "parliamentary Left" to the so-called "revolutionary Left", is in my view, its lack of appreciation of the dialectics between "reform" and "revolution".
The Obscenity of Hunger Deaths
Dec 22nd 2017, Jayati Ghosh
There is no doubt that human life is cheap in India, perhaps more so now than ever before. The attacks, atrocities and killings of people from minorities and marginalised groups that have now become so common are particularly appalling because they reflect a culture of impunity.
Economic Recovery or A Statistical Illusion: Some observations on recent estimates of GDP growth
Dec 7th 2017, Vikas Rawal
On November 30th, the Central Statistical Office (CSO) came out with quarterly estimates of GDP for the second quarter (June to Sep) of 2017. Predictably, analysts and spokespersons of the government spent the evening in newsrooms of various TV channels celebrating what they claimed was a sign of revival of the economy.
Do Purchasing Power Parity Exchange Rates Mislead on Incomes? The case of China
Dec 5th 2017, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
The use of exchange rates based on Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) to compare incomes across countries and over time is now standard practice. But this may lead to excessively inflated incomes for poorer countries and not capture the real changes over time.
Neo-liberalism has been a disaster for Nepal
Nov 20th 2017, An interview with C.P. Chandrasekhar
Why is neoliberalism bad for India and Nepal? What are its major flaws? Mahabir Paudyal and Prashant Lamichhane from myRepublica caught up with Professor CP Chandrasekhar when he was in Kathmandu last week to discuss the impact of neo-liberal economic order in the two countries, and the prospects of a socialist-oriented economy in Nepal.
Not with a Bang but with a (prolonged) Whimper
Nov 16th 2017, Jayati Ghosh
The German thinker Wolfgang Streeck in his brilliant book provides a cogent critique of the nature of contemporary capitalism, and describes its ongoing extended demise without surrendering to any optimism that as it fails to deliver even in terms of its own logic all the injustice it has generated must inevitably change for the better.
Neo-Liberal Capitalism and its Crisis
Oct 24th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
Neo-liberal capitalism is marked by the hegemony of international finance capital which has many consequences, among which is the alarming upsurge of fascism, differing markedly from the fascism of the 1930s.
The Current Upsurge of Fascism
Oct 18th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
To describe the present upsurge of fascism as nationalist or populist would be misleading. Neither is it a replication of the fascism of the 1930s. However, it is marked by four features, which have been common to all fascist upsurges in the past, namely: rise of supremacism, apotheosis of unreason, proliferation of fascism as a movement, and intertwining of fascist movement and corporate capital.
The Class Content of the Goods and Services Tax
Oct 5th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
In the discussions about GST, the class content of this new tax regime has been missed. Through an overall increase in the taxation of the informal sector i.e. of the petty producers and the small capitalists, it has unleashed the twin process of centralization of political authority and the centralization of capital, which in turn strengthen one another.
Winner-take-all Political Funding
Sep 28th 2017, Jayati Ghosh
By introducing the opaque and hugely problematic system of electoral bonds, the BJP-led government at the Centre has indicated that it is not really interested in fighting corruption but only concerned with expanding its hold on power.
The Epidemic of Vigilantism
Sep 20th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
In a situation where the secular political leadership has lost a good deal of its credibility and "grassroots vigilantism" is becoming a widespread, veritable epidemic under growing fascism, the judiciary continues to remain a credible instrument for the reassertion of the values that the Constitution associated with a "modern" India.
America's Turn Towards Fascism and Its Contradictions
Sep 4th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
While the turn of the U.S. towards fascism is unmistakable, the contradictions associated with this turn, and the complexity of the process of formation of the partnership between big business and fascist upstarts within the framework of a non-fascist bourgeois State to start with, are also clearly visible.
The Triple Talaq Verdict: Victory in one battle in a much longer war
Aug 29th 2017, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
The Supreme Court's welcome verdict in the Triple Talaq case should bring public attention to the problems and needs of separated and divorced women across all religious communities in India.
A Dangerous Analogy
Aug 24th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
Democracy in India faces a severe threat from the penchant for centralization and uniformity that the Hindutva forces have and which Modi articulated in the Central Hall on July 1 through his misleading analogy between the GST and the integration of princely states by Vallabhbhai Patel during Independence. Such comparison puts a tax reform and democratic revolution on the same platform, confusing biased centralization with unity of the country.
150 years of 'Das Kapital': How relevant is Marx today?
Aug 24th 2017, Jayati Ghosh
After 150 years of 'Das Kapital', the seminal work of the 19th century economist still provides a framework for understanding contemporary capitalism. The unique social relations such as "free labour" and "commodity fetishism", that according to Marx, define capital, are reflected in the uneven and unstable development of the world market.
On the Economic Implications of Restrictions on Cow Slaughter
Jul 11th 2017, Vikas Rawal
India's livestock economy is among the biggest in the world. A ban on cow slaughter would either result in more and more unproductive animals being killed in most unscientific and cruel ways or would entail such a high cost for maintaining unproductive animals that cattle rearing would cease to be a profitable enterprise for farm households. Restrictions being imposed on cow slaughter and the actions of the cow vigilantes would deal a serious blow to the agrarian economy and in particular to the livelihoods of the poor and middle peasants in rural India.
Growing Class Resistance Against "Globalization"
Jun 19th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
Universal non-class use of the term “globalisation” and its “other” “nationalism” by the bourgeoisie has enabled them to show the former as progressive and latter reactionary for all classes. But recent election results in major countries reflect the rise of resistance of the worker class against the hegemony of "globalised" finance capital everywhere. Even in India, for the first time in three decades, anti-labour policies are being challenged by strong peasant movements in many states.
Why Workers Lose
May 30th 2017, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The IMF's push to delink the decline in the share of labour in national income from the rise of finance, neoliberalism and globalisation leads to a set of banal prescriptions on how to deal with a problem that is at the centre of the crisis of capitalism today.
Public Bank Privatisation in a Post-truth World
May 17th 2017, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Narendra Modi government appears to have decided to privatise public sector banks (PSBs). Preparations are underway with arguments being marshalled that "there is no alternative" to privatisation.
Industrial Growth and Demonetization
Apr 24th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
Recent data on the manufacturing sector dispel all the lies that government propaganda has been peddling of late about demonetization having had no recessionary effect.
The Nefarious Money Bills
Apr 3rd 2017, Prabhat Patnaik
The amendment of the Company Act by the BJP government is a massive assault on democracy and a legitimisation of the fusion of corporate and State power, and a license for big-ticket corruption.
The Rise and Fall of South Korea's Chaebols
Mar 15th 2017, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Even though an alliance between big business and politicians is threatening the survival of democracy in South Korea, a near-unprecedented process of penalising corruption and bribery has begun there because of popular pressure.
Evolution of India as a Nation
Mar 6th 2017, Sitaram Yechury
This piece is the author's deliberations made in the Opening Session, "The Idea of the Nation" of the day-long Seminar on "Interpreting the World to Change It", held on February 11, 2017, in New Delhi to mark the release of Festschrift for Prabhat Patnaik.
Spreading Light: Are the Modi government's electricity promises being fulfilled?
Jan 31st 2017, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
The government's claim that it has ensured electricity for all does not seem to be warranted by the evidence.
No Digital Base for a Cashless Economy
Jan 27th 2017, C.P. Chandrasekhar
In the absence of a digital base for a cashless economy, India's road to a near-cashless economy seems fairly long and the journey is likely to be slow and tedious.
The Pursuit of Unreason
Jan 9th 2017. Prabhat Patnaik
Modi's demonetization can be compared with Idi Amin's fiat in 1972 as both are instances of extreme unreason. But while Amin's was an untenable and extremely inhumane solution to the problem it addressed, Modi's is a complete non-solution to the problem it addresses which is also inhumane, and hence constitutes an even greater act of unreason.
The Dialectics of Authoritarianism
Dec 26th 2016. Prabhat Patnaik
The decision to demonetise overnight as much as 86 percent of the currency of a country which is predominantly currency-using, is necessarily irrational, undertaken in the quest of a heroism that is a necessary feature of an authoritarian regime.
Understanding the American Right
Oct 26th 2016, Jayati Ghosh
One of the reasons for the solid, intense support that Donald Trump commands is his complete disdain for political correctness, which appears exhilarating and liberating to such people who have felt suppressed for so long.
Developing "Infrastructure"
Oct 25th 2016, Prabhat Patnaik
One can intervene in income distribution in an egalitarian direction by restraining the investment in infrastructure that is met at the expense of other socially-pressing needs and rationing the infrastructure in question.
Managing the Corporate-Communal Alliance
Aug 2nd 2016, Prabhat Patnaik
To keep the corporate-communal alliance going, the recalcitrant elements on both sides have to be managed carefully and the alliance must deliver to the partners who constitute it.
The Post-1991 Growth Story
Jul 29th 2016, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Economic growth post liberalization has been riding on a credit bubble. Neither has it made the manufacturing or exports sector robust, nor has delivered any benefits to those steeped in poverty and deprivation.
25 Years of Economic Reforms: Agriculture
Jul 27th 2016, Jayati Ghosh
The inability to resolve the pressing concerns with respect to food production, distribution and availability is one of the important failures of the entire economic reform process.
Globalization and the World’s Working People
Jul 11th 2016, Prabhat Patnaik
Contrary to the impression that Globalization would benefit all, it has actually worsened the conditions of the broad mass of the working people in both parts of the world.
After Brexit
Jul 6th 2016, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Whatever the long term implications of Brexit are, it could, in the short run, disrupt world trade, and worsen the depressed conditions confronting the current world economy.
Broken Promises to India's Youth
Jun 10th 2016, Jayati Ghosh
Quite contrary to its original promise, job creation no longer seems to be a major policy priority of the Modi government, which has shown itself to be remarkably anti-youth.
Two Tales of Contrast
May 26th 2016, Jayati Ghosh
Among the terrible legacies of the Modi government’s first two years, are its double standards, as evidenced by the recent experiences, which will have negative repercussions.
Societal Involution in the North
May 16th 2016, Jayati Ghosh
Recent social and political trends in the US and in parts of Europe point to the regressive tendencies that seek to recreate a past that seems less complicated, but manages to intensify unhappiness.
Capitalism and the Oppressed Castes
Apr 29th 2016, Prabhat Patnaik
The development of capitalism in any society brings about a complete transformation in the way we look at all social questions including the question of caste oppression.
Against the Assault on Thought: A lesson for the Left
Apr 28th 2016, Rohit Azad
When the state cannot hide behind a facade of national performance, the government looks for an alternative category of us versus them which is used to divide the people and rule.
The State of the Economy
Apr 8th 2016, Prabhat Patnaik
There is a remarkable constriction of the size of the domestic market and stagnation of industrial sector in India due to inadequate purchasing power in the hands of the people.
Anti-national Economics
Mar 16th 2016, Jayati Ghosh
The author here argues that the policies that go against the interests of the people are anti-national and NDA's economic policies are profoundly anti-national in that sense.
Budget 2016-17: Signs of paralysis
Mar 16th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The divergence between the rhetoric and the actual allocations in the Budget 2016-17 depicts the ruling party's inability to use the fiscal lever to push for growth and welfare.
Budget 2016-17: Hype is all
Mar 15th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
Behind all the hype about a pro-poor budget, the actual provisions of the government for the major social sectors are found to be too paltry to improve the lives of the poor.
Why do we have Unemployment?
Mar 14th 2016, Prabhat Patnaik
Under neoliberal capitalism, where the level of activity requires bubbles to sustain itself, the existence of unemployment must be attributed to the paucity of aggregate demand.
A Sinister Pattern Underway
Mar 7th 2016, Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey
The ruling party is doing its best to establish that being critical of its government is tantamount to being anti-national. It is time for us to realise that the freedom won so hard, is under threat unless we collectively protect our constitutional rights.
The Battle to Defend the Employment Guarantee Scheme!
Feb 12th 2016, Smita Gupta
In the face of the strong opposition from various sections of the society, ensuring the proper implementation of MGNREGA is one struggle that has to be constantly fought.
Privatization: Any method in this madness?
Feb 3rd 2016, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The government signals towards winding down the public sector allowing the private sector to occupy the spaces it has, for long, avoided. But this predatory exercise involves large developmental costs.
Growth through Redistribution
Jan 21st 2016, Prabhat Patnaik
Contrary to the portrayal by the neoliberal spokesmen, the Left position does not accept the growth versus redistribution dichotomy, rather asserts that growth can occur in a sustained manner through redistributive measures.
MNREGA under the Modi Regime
Jan 21st 2016, Jayati Ghosh
The continuous cutting down of the financial outlays for the programmes like MNREGA clearly indicates the central government's appalling disregard for its legal obligations.
The Abolition of the NDC
Jan 11th 2016, Prabhat Patnaik
The abolition of the NDC adds a final touch to the Modi government's project of centralizing powers and resources, which is an essential element of the neo-liberal strategy.
The Heavy Price of Economic Policy Failures
Jan 7th 2016, Jayati Ghosh
While the citizenry pay a heavy price for economic policy failures, those responsible for the implementation of this are never blamed and they continue to impose their power and expertise on economic policies and on governing institutions.
A Candid Assessment?
Jan 6th 2016, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The Finance Ministry's mid-year review talks of positives, that are more in the nature of disappearing negatives, but it cannot conceal the fact that there has been little advance on the development front.
IDBI Bank: The door to denationalisation
Jan 4th 2016, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The decision to privatise IDBI Bank is the beginning of a larger process of denationalisation of banking in India that would lead to exclusionary banking structure most unsuited to India's development needs.
What can Corporate Planning Learn from National Planning
Dec 29th 2015, Pronab Sen
This paper examines the historical development of national planning in India and identifies the lessons that corporate planning can draw from the long and varied experience.
The Seventh Pay Commission Report
Dec 14th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
A drastic squeeze on salary increases and a widening of disparities within the real emoluments of the central government employees imposed by the 7th Pay Commission typically characterizes a neo-liberal regime that must be resisted.
Capital Goods Conundrum
Nov 24th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
While the Government appears to recognise the importance of expanding and strengthening India's capital goods industry, the policy signals it sends seem contrary and confusing.
The Stench of Counter-Revolution
Nov 13th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
Today we witness an attempt to change the nature of the Indian State to a Hindu Rashtra, which is a hallmark of the counter-revolution and needs to be resisted with all strength.
The Slogan of "Make in India"
Nov 10th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
Although apparently the "Make in India" campaign appears innocuous, it is actually a dangerous one since the potential thrust of the campaign is in the direction of constricting democracy and squeezing the working people.
The State as Fiefdom
Oct 6th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
Using the State machinery for settling personal scores must qualify as corruption and must be opposed.
Europe's Refugee "Crisis"
Sep 30th 2015, Jayati Ghosh
Asylum seekers do not have an easy time anywhere, but the richer countries have without question been meaner, more oppressive and more restrictive in their dealings with them.
The Retreat of the Emerging Markets
Sep 16th 2015, Jayati Ghosh
The process of export-led growth strategy that led to declining wage share and increasing inequalities and environmental problems has ultimately proved to be unsustainable.
"De-Linking" and Domestic Reaction
Sep 7th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
The author here highlights the fact that it is not de-linking from globalization but globalization itself that conduces to a strengthening of reactionary forces.
The Debate on GST
Aug 19th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
Transition to a GST regime involves various issues; of which reduction in the powers of the states and the regressive nature of its distributive impact deserve greater attention.
Why the Fight for a GST?
Aug 6th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The claims of the government that the transition to a GST regime would increase revenue mobilisation and raise GDP growth are based on models that are by no means robust.
The Internet in "Digital India"
Jul 24th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
According to the latest NSSO data, the proportion of Indian households in which at least one member had access to the internet is far short of the near universal connectivity envisaged by the Digital India mission.
Pachhwara Coal Mines, Jharkhand: Privatisation of coal mining and rights of adivasis
Jul 21st 2015, Vikas Rawal and Prakash Viplav
Privatisation of coal mining in Amrapara has facilitated a loot of national resources and deprived the poor adivasi peasants of the benefits that rightfully belong to them.
Great Dream of Prosperity
Jul 21st 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The emphasis on the latest GDP growth numbers, when the figures from other indicators point to the opposite, may be the government’s only option to show that all is well.
Looking Back at Debt Relief for the Germans
Jul 21st 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
In the current Eurozone attitudes towards Greece, it is often forgotten that Germany was the major beneficiary of debt write-offs in the 20th century when Greece was its creditor.
A Greek Tragedy that could have been Avoided
Jul 8th 2015, Jayati Ghosh
The EU's insistence on grinding austerity measures and stubborn resistance to even consider the option of debt restructuring forced the Greek people into greater hardship.
The Destruction of Education
Jun 26th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
The era of globalization of capital brings along a process of destruction of education, but the intrusion of communal-fascism into education is an added element in case of India.
The Beleaguered Indian Farmer
Jun 24th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The forecast of a poor monsoon is a real bad news for the Indian farmers as it would not only reduce crop production leading to shortages but also encourage speculative holding.
Economics and the Two Concepts of Nationalism
Jun 22nd 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
It is important to differentiate the kind of nationalism that informed the anti-colonial struggle in India from the bourgeois nationalism that had emerged in Europe.
Skating on Thin Ice
Jun 1st 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
Indian economy, under the first year of Modi's rule, has experienced massive attack on the welfare programmes, sluggish growth of exports and an increase in the trade deficit.
How Food was Moved to the Margins of the New Household Budget
May 29th 2015, Rahul Goswami
An enquiry into the private consumption expenditure indicates that a huge majority of India's population are experiencing food insecurity in one or several forms.
One Year of Modi Government: Social sector
May 27th 2015, Jayati Ghosh
The Modi government's vast and sweeping cuts in essential social spending will adversely impact the basic conditions of living and affect the prospects of the aspirational youth.
The Economy: The end of euphoria
May 27th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Despite having a good fortune of lower international oil prices, the Modi government failed to deliver growth in its first year while the expectations are still very high.
Fiscal Consolidation through Austerity
May 25th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The government's attempt at fiscal consolidation through austerity would not only affect growth adversely, but also has damaging effects on welfare.
Unseen Workers: Women in Indian agriculture
Apr 1st 2015, Jayati Ghosh
Although women play a pivotal role in Indian agriculture, it is amazing to see how their work goes unnoticed in the public domain.
The Modi Government's Economic Strategy
Mar 19th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
In its pursuit of pushing ahead with the neoliberal agenda, the government is willing to adopt measures which, as evidence suggests, would fail as strategy.
How Not to Treat Agriculture
Mar 19th 2015, Jayati Ghosh
The Union Budget 2015 indicates that the government is going beyond what could be called benign neglect of agriculture to policy moves that are likely to harm its viability.
Budget 2015-16: Bonanza for the corporate
Mar 9th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
Budget 2015 is a major step towards increasing the class power of capital; it is the true expression of the ideology of a neo-liberal State without any attempt at a human face.
India's Daughter: Since the Delhi rape things have got worse
Mar 9th 2015, Jayati Ghosh
The banning of the BBC documentary points to the fact that the Indian government's real concern is the international image of the country rather than the safety of women.
Averting a Greek Tragedy – For Now
Mar 4th 2015, Jayati Ghosh
The negotiations between the Syriza led Greek government and the EU is the struggle between the democratic will of the people and global finance.
Lessons from the Coal Blocks Auction
Mar 4th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The outcome of coal block auction suggests that the government could have stuck to expanding public sector coal production without handing the mines over to the private sector.
Growth and Hunger
Feb 23rd 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
The declining foodgrain absorption in India is indicative of growing hunger- a symptom of deprivation, caused by the privatisation of services like education and health.
In Search of Clean Air
Feb 20th 2015, Jayati Ghosh
The worsening atmospheric pollution in India threatens the basic health and well-being of people but sadly, almost nothing is being done in terms of effective public policy.
The "Niti Ayog"
Jan 12th 2015, Prabhat Patnaik
The replacement of the Planning Commission by the NITI Ayog marks a centralisation of economic power in the hands of the Central Government at the behest of neoliberalism.
Prof. Bhagwati has Got it Wrong
Jan 12th 2015, Rohit
Jagadish Bhagwati's recent pitch for make-in-India is flawed as it ignores domestic demand and other pitfalls of an export-oriented growth strategy.
Who's Really Paying for Oil?
Jan 7th 2015, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
As the central government raises excise duties on petroleum products yet again, it is the poor that end up paying the price.
The RBI Governor’s Unwarranted Remarks
Jan 2nd 2015,, Prabhat Patnaik
Dr. Rajan’s criticism of the debt-waiver scheme for farmers underscores the fact that 'social banking" gets progressively eliminated in the era of neo-liberalism.
Make in India
Dec 29th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
The new ambitious "Make in India" initiative is based largely on bluster, bravado and marketing hype that lacks any clear strategy for proactive trade and industrial policies.
The Phenomenal Increase in Wealth Inequality
Dec 16th 2014, Prabhat Patnaik
The recent Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse shows inequality growth in India since 2000 has been the highest with the top one percent controlling 49% of total wealth.
Bad News in the Good Days
Dec 16th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
While the collapse in oil prices and moderation in food price inflation are good news for the Modi government, there is a real danger of it turning complacent as a result.
Fiscal Correction versus Democracy in India
Dec 12th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
The current government's strategy of imposing sweeping cuts to important areas of public spending without any public scrutiny and discussion is deeply anti-democratic.
The Nehru Legacy
Nov 27th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Although the Congress is using the Nehruvian tradition to win political legitimacy, it has actually rejected the essentials of the Nehruvian economic trajectory.
Turning Citizens into Mendicants
Nov 18th 2014, Prabhat Patnaik
The shifting of responsibility of sanitation infrastructure from the state to corporate sector is a breach of the rights and dignity of the common citizenry.
India Concludes Bilateral Agreement with US, Agrees to an Indefinite ‘Peace Clause’
Nov 17th 2014, Biswajit Dhar
By making a bilateral agreement with the US, India is able to avert any challenge to its food security programme for now, but the programme will be under WTO surveillance.
Is the Swachch Bharat Mission the Way to a Cleaner India?
Nov 13th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
If Bharat is to become Swachch, it cannot achieve this without proactive concern for the lives and working conditions of those who are responsible for keeping our spaces clean.
Recent Changes in Labour Laws: An exploratory note
Nov 12th 2014, Anamitra Roychowdhury
This article explores the possible implications of amending the Contract Labour Act, 1970 and questions the rationale behind amending the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
Dilma Rousseff's Victory
Nov 5th 2014, Prabhat Patnaik
While Dilma's victory represents an important step in the right direction, intensified class struggle will be required to sustain the scheme of "transfers" to the working poor.
An Obsession to Sell
Oct 30th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The NDA government's strategy of accelerating the process of privatisation is fiscally irrational and unsustainable that will adversely affect the workers in the public sector.
Deregulating Diesel Prices
Oct 30th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
Linking the price of oil to global market prices is simply another way of putting the squeeze on mass consumers whose incomes are well below the global average.
Exploiting the Oil Price Crash
Oct 30th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
The government has decided to exploit the recent sharp decline in oil prices to push deregulation. But this may not help growth nor prove wise in the medium term.
In Search of a New Industrial Stimulus
Oct 24th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The new Modi slogan 'Make in India' is an old idea with a new label and there is no reason to believe that a new label can deliver the success that has been thus far elusive.
Is Rising Income Inequality Inevitable?
Sep 16th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
In spite of globalisation and technological change, patterns of inequality within a country reflect internal political economy, and can be changed by political choice.
The Real Story on Gujarat's Development
Sep 10th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
The book, "Growth or Development: Which way is Gujarat going?", provides a sober, balanced and solidly researched account of Gujarat's development over the past decade.
The State and Indian Planning
Sep 9th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Though the Planning Commission faltered in residual developmental role, but instead of reforming it the scrapping indicates towards systematic dismantling of checks and balances.
The Logic of Neoliberal Anti-Populism
Aug 27th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Pursuing fiscal consolidation by providing large transfers to the rich while trimming expenditures that benefit the poor is the best example of the ideology of anti-populism.
New Macroeconomic Consensus Rules Budget 2014-15
Aug 4th 2014, Rohit
The author critiques the macroeconomic framework that underlies the fiscal consolidation approach of the Union Budget for 2014-15.
Social Spending under the Modi Government
Jul 25th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
A decline in real terms in the budget allocations to the crucial areas of public spending is a sign of the new government's lack of respect for the rights of their citizens.
Corporate Karza Maafi at Rs. 36.5 Trillion
Jul 21st 2014, P. Sainath
Since 2005-06 a cumulative amount of Rs. 36.5 trillion has been given away to corporate sector in terms of various sops in corporate income tax, excise duty and customs duty.
Union Budget 2014-15
Jul 15th 2014, Prabhat Patnaik
The basic fiscal strategy of the Union Budget 2014-15 is to increase transfers to the rich and the affluent, while reducing the outlays earmarked for the poor.
No Sign of Change
Jul 11th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The people of India, who have voted for a change, are likely to be disappointed by the NDA government's first budget as it signals no change on the economic policy front.
The Missing Honeymoon
Jul 9th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The government's decisiveness in ensuring quick clearances for big, infrastructure projects would please the corporate sector and private capital, but not the rest of India.
India as a Manufacturing Hub
Jul 8th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
The strategy of the new government to revive India's manufacturing sector by exploiting global value chains is well known, but how much success this will bring is doubtful.
The Moves towards 'De-Dollarization'
Jun 18th 2014, Prabhat Patnaik
The de-Dollarisation attempts by Russia via the recent trade deals with China and Iran can have major consequences, but may be difficult to sustain due to internal pressures.
India's External Resiliences
Jun 17 th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
The fall in the current account deficit of India may seem heartening but this is possibly because of a temporary respite in the areas where India’s vulnerability resides.
Who is Afraid of Illicit Finance?
Jun 16th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
NDA government's move to appoint an SIT to bring back illegal money from abroad brought more complex issues of finance and government's real intention to the foreground.
Chinese Dreams
Jun 11th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The pursuit of the Chinese dream may become a nightmare for the majority as it involves reduction of expenditures on food subsidies and other welfare measures.
Modi with the Magic Wand
Jun 11th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Modi has persuaded people that his development magic wand can deliver what others dare to promise. If he fails to deliver on this the current euphoria can prove short-lived.
UPA-2 and Welfare Schemes
May 29th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
Contrary to the argument that UPA-2 wasted too much money on "populist" schemes, it actually neglected and spent less on these important welfare initiatives than UPA-1.
The Offensive against Transfers to the Poor
May 22nd 2014, Prabhat Patnaik
The demand by corporate magnates to roll back the relief measures for the poor is nothing but an expression of the class animosity of corporate capital towards the working poor.
Stock Market Boom amidst Economic Crisis
May 19th 2014, Prabhat Patnaik
The stock market boom, within a slowdown in the economy, serves the interest of the finance capital, and the crisis cannot be addressed because the boom has to be sustained.
Blaming the "Other"
May 15th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
The BJP's aggressive stance on migrants from Bangladesh is economically stupid. Strategies that seek to exploit such divisive attitudes will boomerang on all Indians.
A Political Economy of the Elections
May 6th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Blind faith on economic growth took the Congress away from inclusiveness and public opinion but the BJP follows the same lead and does not provide any economic alternative.
The Post-Election Economy
May 5th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
Ideally India needs a new and different vision for the economy, but the parties that are being projected to do well in the elections do not exhibit that new vision at all.
The BJP's Election Manifesto
Apr 17th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
One of the most dangerous aspects of the BJP's vision for India is that it envisages the enforcement of an aggressively pro-big business agenda.
Big Business and Mr. Modi
Apr 16th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
If India is not to be handed over to big business and a rabidly communal fringe, it is best to keep Narendra Modi out of the Prime Minister's office.
Rajan's Target: Inflation or the poor?
Mar 18th 2014, Rohit
The RBI Governor's call for inflation targets to be set by the parliament is not a demand for providing relief to the poor, but a gesture to assure global finance capital.
Crony Capitalism in the Age of State Capture
Mar 10th 2014, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The illegal nexus between the state and big business for the benefit of both has strengthened under the neoliberal policy regime in India.
What about the Aam Aurat?
Feb 12th 2014, Jayati Ghosh
The increasing evidence of patriarchal attitudes towards women among the AAP leaders is the most compelling reason for the growing wariness about the party among many people.
Understanding the "Mango People"
Dec 31st 2013, Jayati Ghosh
People's aspiration for alternative, symbolised by AAP's success, creates progressive political possibilities if the left can see the changing realities and think creatively.
Animal Spirits
Dec 24th 2013, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
As GDP growth slows, the government focuses on ways of raising investment in the economy. But evidence from the CSO suggests that the source of the problem may lie elsewhere.
Democracy, Neoliberalism and Inclusiveness
Nov 26th 2013, C.P. Chandrasekhar
A strategy of inclusive development is required instead of the rhetorical ''inclusive growth'' propagated by two main political parties in the run-up of next general election.
Is the Party Over?
Oct 3rd 2013, Rohit
The article analyses the reasons behind the poor performance of the Indian economy in the recent past and suggests measures for way out of the current crisis.
Class War at the Capital
Sep 19th 2013, Prabhat Patnaik
Indian State's treatment of workers under neoliberalism is not a normal "class war," but a "class war" in which the ruling classes are fast moving in the direction of fascism.
Is Fiscal Profligacy the Cause of the Crisis?
Sep 10th 2013, Prabhat Patnaik
Current account deficit is a major reason behind lack of demand and slowdown. Government spending on food security can boost demand for domestic goods and chance of a revival.
The Discreet Charms of Controlling Imports
Sep 4th 2013, Jayati Ghosh
Some protection from imports together with current account balancing is clearly what is necessary now to deal with India's balance of payment crisis.
Growth versus Redistribution
Aug 19th 2013, Prabhat Patnaik
In reference to the recent Sen-Bhagwati debate, the author argues that redistribution is a fundamental right in a democracy and is not necessarily dependent on growth.
The Sen-Bhagwati "Debate" on Economic Policy in India
Aug 14th 2013, Jayati Ghosh
The recent Sen-Bhagwati debate is not about a choice between economic growth and social sector spending; rather it is more about the economic strategy of growth.
Banks and the F-word
Aug 8th 2013, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The rising incidence of bank frauds in India breaks the myth that better accounting standards and stringent disclosure requirements post-liberalisation would discourage fraud.
Once More, without Feeling: The Government of India’s latest poverty estimates
Aug 8th 2013, Jayati Ghosh
The Government of India's latest poverty lines are appallingly low and unrealistic, that make a cruel joke on the actual living standards of the bulk of the population.
What Defines Headline Inflation?
Jul 30th 2013, C.P. Chandrasekhar
Barely a year and a half since the government started computing headline inflation based on CPI rather than WPI, it has returned to focusing on WPI-based inflation.
The India behind the New Poverty Ratio
Jul 30th 2013, Rahul Goswami
Poverty in India is far more serious than that suggested by the Planning Commission's latest claims, and the latter may crucially impact upon social welfare programmes.
The Politics of a Development Strategy
Jun 17th 2013, Prabhat Patnaik
Narendra Modi's projection as India's Prime Ministerial candidate is the political denouncement of the economic strategy that is completely anti-people and pro-corporate.
Whose Public Interest?
Jun 11th 2013, Jayati Ghosh
Whatever government is in power, ''public interest'' cannot be appropriated to stifle dissenting voices through abuse of power and undemocratic use of legislation.
Privatising the ICDS?
May 30th 2013, Jayati Ghosh
The government's proposal to hand over the supply of supplementary nutrition to NGOs is an invitation for private profiteering on the back of the supposedly public scheme.
The Corruption System
May 29th 2013, C.P. Chandrasekhar
The greater corruption witnessed under liberalisation reflects an aggravation of the systemic tendency towards primitive accumulation of capital characteristic of capitalism.
The Political Economy of Indian Food Exports
Apr 2nd 2013, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
The article discusses the political economy configurations that permit rising grain exports from India, even as domestic food prices spiral out of the reach of ordinary people.
The Neo-liberal Paralysis
Mar 6th 2013, Subhanil Chowdhury
India's commitment to neo-liberalism and enticement of global finance capital forbid it to undertake any policy aimed at ameliorating the current condition of the economy.
Is this Really a Budget for Women?
Mar 6th 2013, Jayati Ghosh
Many of the policies implicit or explicit in the Budget statement have implications that are adverse for most women because they involve cuts in essential public spending.
Tax Concessions to Companies
Mar 5th 2013, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
Revenue foregone due to direct tax concessions to the corporate sector has become a huge element in the Budget, and one that is increasingly coming under public scrutiny.
Niggardly on Essential Spend
Mar 1st 2013, Jayati Ghosh
Given that the Indian electorate would soon see what the real implications of the budget 2013-14 are, it is surprising that his own party let Chidambaram get away with this.
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.
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.
Hawking the Deficit
Jan 8th 2013, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
While the government proclaims the need to reduce fiscal deficit, its actual performance in recent years has been well below projections, especially due to lower receipts.
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.
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.
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.
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.
FDI in Retail: Benefiting neo-liberalism, harming people
Sep 26th 2012, Subhanil Chowdhury
The decision of the UPA government to open up the retail sector in the country to FDI is an example of the basic fallacy in the 'growth fetishism' of the votaries of neo-liberalism. While the government argues that this move will generate investor confidence in the Indian economy and lead the country to high growth, in reality the problems of the common people - deprivation, poverty and hunger - far from being ameliorated, will actually be intensified.
Emerging Dynamics of Global Production Networks and Labour Process: A study from India
Sep 12th 2012, Praveen Jha and Amit Chakraborty

With cheap labour and a strong supply base, India's automobile sector has emerged successful in integrating itself into the global production networks. Using case studies from the National Capital Region, this paper seeks to study the nature of changes in the organisation of production and work in the automobile sector - both intra-firm and inter-firm - and their impact on the changing labour processes and issues of managerial control, skill or working conditions. The anatomy of the recent waves of labour unrest there has been studied to investigate its relation with changing labour processes, and to understand the new regime of accumulation from a political economy perspective in terms of the dynamic interaction of capital's strategy, technology and the agency of labour.

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.
Gender, Property and Institutional Basis of Tax Policy Concessions: Investigating the Hindu Undivided Family
Sep 1st 2012, Chirashree Das Gupta

This discussion note is an attempt to situate the development of Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) as a legal tax entity recognised by tax law, separate and distinct from individuals and corporate entities. Over the years this tool has been used by the family-owned business groups for evading tax. In fact in the era of neoliberal globalisation, the laws of the land have been altered suitably to facilitate the transformation of family-owned business groups into multinationals without an increase in their total corporate liability.

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.
Capital and Public Expenditure
Aug 24th 2012, Prabhat Patnaik
The author explores the paradox of why capitalists are opposed to public expenditures even in economies with high unemployment and unutilised capacity despite the fact that such investments would boost aggregate demand. The answer lies in preserving the capitalists' control over the level of output and employment and thereby maintaining their hegemony over society.
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.
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.
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.
The Emerging Left in the Emerging World
Jun 12th 2012, Jayati Ghosh
In this article, the author reviews several features of emerging left movements in Latin America, Africa and developing Asia that suggest a move away from some traditional ideas associated with socialist theory and practice even as there are two important areas of continuity with the leftist thinking of the past.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Food and Agriculture: Trends in India into the early Twelfth Plan period
Apr 23rd 2012, Rahul Goswami

The transformation taking place in India's agriculture and crop cultivation choices is brought about by a few key factors that have begun to heavily influence the patterns of crop cultivation, the movement of food through India and the effect of these on nutrition on different income classes in rural and urban habitats. In this view, foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and the influence of the retail food industry is linked with climate change impacts and the proposed genetic engineering solutions; the combining of agriculture, health and nutrition is aided by pro-technology policies and consumption geared for urbanising India; and the domination by the USA of the crop science, research agenda and market reform process is still evident. These factors are responsible for the repetition of the misdiagnosis of impending hunger in the country by the Government of India as being a consequence of a lack of food, to be tackled today, and tackled exclusively by technological means.

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.
An Inequitable Path: The ritualistic exercise in fiscal management 
Mar 23rd 2012, Amiya Kumar Bagchi
Ignoring all the evidences of the fact that growth does not trickle down, the Budget 2012-13 has emphasised the target of raising the rate of growth at any cost without bothering about the majority of Indian population. Instead what was needed for managing the economy was a progressive system of taxation, employment creation and universalisation of the public distribution of food grains.
Employment and Social Spending in Budget 2012-13 
Mar 21st 2012, Jayati Ghosh
Highly regressive in both taxation and spending terms, the Budget 2012-13 has managed the remarkable feat of upsetting almost everyone and making no aam aurat and aam aadmi happy. It provides conclusive proof of the UPA government having lost its way as it seems to have forgotten the importance of its own ''flagship schemes''.
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.
Budget 2012-13 
Mar 17th 2012, Jayati Ghosh
Highly regressive in terms of taxation, the Budget 2012-13 will obviously lead to rising prices with continuing shortfalls in employment. Hence it emerges that the greatest losers from this budget will be the Indian consumers, particularly the poorer sections.
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.
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''.
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.
''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.
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''.
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.

India's Role in the New Global Farmland Grab

Aug 23rd 2011, Rick Rowden
This report explores the role of Indian agricultural companies that have been involved in the recent trend in large-scale overseas acquisitions of farmland. In addition to examining the various factors driving the ''outsourcing'' of domestic food production, the report also explores the negative consequences of such a trend. It looks at why critics have called the trend ''land grabbing'' and reviews the impacts on local peoples on the ground, who are often displaced in the process.
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.
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.
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.
The Left and Elections in West Bengal
May 18th 2011, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh
Assembly elections in West Bengal have resulted in defeat of the Left Front government after 34 years in power. However, a detailed look at the voting shares shows that the Left parties still managed to garner more than 41 per cent of the votes which by no means can be taken as showing a big decline in popular support for the Left among the people in the state.
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.
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 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''.
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.
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.
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