Dec 24th, 2010; Source: The Economic Times
The year 2010 has been a strange one in many ways — a year that flattered to deceive and that belied the expectations and optimism with which it had started. The report card is straightforward. The political stock of the UPA fell suddenly after the second half of the year with one scam after anoth ...ReadMore
DECODING THE SAVINGS RATE MIRACLE
Oct 22nd, 2010; Source: The Economic Times
One of the real macroeconomic successes of this phase of India’s reform process has been the increase in our savings rate. This has also resulted in a higher investment rate, which, indeed, is now leading to a higher level of GDP growth. For example, in the three years to FY 2004, the savings rate ...ReadMore
Sep 3rd, 2010; Source: The Economic Times
Growth in the nineties averaged about 6% but now we are consistently doing better at 8%. This has led to a sense of complacency and even triumphalism amongst policymakers and the media. The ‘second fastest growing economy’ appears to be waiting comfortably for China to stumble so that we can per ...ReadMore
OPEN THE DOORS TO ORGANISED RETAIL
Jul 30th, 2010; Source: The Economic Times
The story of Indian retail is a complicated one. To put things in perspective, about 40% of the country’s total GDP of $1 trillion comes from retail sales to Indian consumers. The local, one-off corner stores account for more than 94% of this total retail sales of around $400 billion. So-called or ...ReadMore
Jun 8th, 2010; Source: The Economic Times
Phase-II of the global recession was always going to hit the global economy. That Greece took the honours was purely incidental. The bigger issue is whether in saving the too-big-to-fail banks of the world, governments have overstretched themselves . This is the nagging fear that is disquieting the ...ReadMore
Irrationality of global capital markets
May 11th, 2010; Source: The Economic Times
Global capital markets are not perfect. Nor are they rational, or even oftentimes effective. A quick look at the performance of the capital markets over the last 15 years just confirms this. In 1993, foreign investors pumped billions of dollars into short term, local currency, fixed income instrumen ...ReadMore
Apr 7th, 2010; Source: The Economic Times
India has an almost unique system of promoters who own and manage much of the corporate sector. There are the eponymous promoter groups that have been around for decades such as the Tatas, Birlas, Mahindras, Bajajs, Goenkas and Godrejs. Then there are the relative newcomers such as the Ambanis of Re ...ReadMore
Feb 8th, 2010; Source: The Economic Times
India is such a land of contrasts that sometimes one wonders how the different pieces form part of the same whole. How does the 8%-plus GDP growth economy coexist with one where little, unclothed children sleep in the freezing streets of our Capital? How do we have a world-beating IT sector living s ...ReadMore
Dec 7th, 2009; Source: The Economic Times
Imagine, as John Lennon said, if the country was managed like a company. There would be a chairman/CEO — the prime minister, a board of directors — the Cabinet perhaps — a set of shareholders — the people, regulators — the Parliament, employees — the bureaucrats, and so on. The key diffe ...ReadMore
ECONOMIC GRAVITY SWINGS TO THE EAST
Oct 27th, 2009; Source: The Economic Times
What is one to make of this global downturn — is it a prolonged recession, a mild depression or merely a correction? Is it likely to be V shaped, U shaped, a W or even (heaven forbid) an L? Is unbridled capitalism dead, consigned to the dustbin of history along with communism? Are regulated market ...ReadMore
