Thursday, March 30, 2023
https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/indias-economy-hurry-hide-those-blemishes-writes-rn-bhaskar Indian economy -- Out damned spot! RN Bhaskar Last week was full of chest thumping for India as it hosted the G20 Summit in Mumbai.  The city did everything to make itself look prettier than it is.  Slums were hidden from...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/the-governments-myopia-will-blight-both-it-and-digital-payments-writes-rn-bhaskar Slowdown in IT, discomfort with digital payments RN Bhaskar The government loves thumping its chest when digital payments soar.  This was, after all,  one of the stated objectives of the  much-touted JAM Trinity - Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (https://pib.gov.in/FeaturesDeatils.aspx?NoteId=151163&ModuleId%20=%202).  As...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/the-trumpets-and-the-pipsqueaks-discordant-notes-writes-rn-bhaskar The hype around India's economic growth RN Bhaskar When elections are round the corner, as they are in India, the tendency on the part of governments -- and those who wish to seek favours – is to engage in a bit...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/when-the-inr-falls-it-is-easy-to-blame-gold-writes-rn-bhaskar A weak INR and growing CAD are a result of poor gold policies By RN Bhaskar The RBI in its recent report (https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_ViewBulletin.aspx?Id=21137#FN14) states “Gold imports at US$ 2.6 billion in June 2022 were almost half the level of US$ 6.0...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/gst-growth-does-not-mean-that-the-economy-is-growing-writes-rn-bhaskar GST and demonetisation are hurting India RN Bhaskar For the past month, there have been attempts to talk up India’s markets by pointing to surging GST collections. There are speakers who tout India’s achievements, and some even claim that demonetisation was...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/germany-tries-to-bhttps://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/germany-tries-to-bounce-back-after-ukraine Policy Watch Germany hitches its wagon to the Chinese engine RN Bhaskar The attempts of the US and NATO to use President Zelensky of Ukraine to needle Russia may be backfiring, big time. The first retaliation came from Russia.  The second could...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/pmp-and-pli-and-more-backdoor-licensing-moves Will the PLI scheme really boost India's economy? RN Bhaskar On 18 October, 2022, Raghuram Rajan, former governor of the RBI, India’s central bank, created a furor among investors when he harshly criticized the government’s PLI scheme (https://www.opindia.com/2022/10/raghuram-rajan-latest-india-manufacturing-hub-china-why-he-is-wrong/).  Rajan is currently...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/the-ukraine-war-will-bind-china-and-russia-more-tightly-to-india Changing geopolitics bring Russia, India, China closer RN Bhaskar Geopolitics can be quite intriguing.  It was in 2009 that this author predicted the need for the three countries – Russia, China and India – to work together (https://www.livemint.com/Companies/wDLWbd3OWUGppEzYYC0yYO/The-Capitalist--With-increasing-water-needs-will-China-deh.html).  Demographics compelled this...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/the-recession-will-hurt-us-all Can India buck the recession? RN Bhaskar Notwithstanding the pitfalls of forecasting anything these days, my cracked and worn crystal ball sees a global recession occurring in the next year…. Collectively, Europe, the US, and China make up about half of...
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/the-folly-of-banning-futures-trading-in-commodities A primer for policymakers on commodities trading RN Bhaskar The government never tires of telling people that it wants to empower farmers.  It says it wants to empower commodities trading in futures, and commodity exchanges. This was the claim made by earlier...