Global growth requires much more than GDP and population
By RN Bhaskar
On 9 December, 2023, a senior minister of the Indian government spoke at an industry forum. He exhorted industrialists in the audience to collaborate further with the Government to...
Baulking away from the Census, Household spending and PISA surveys - is something amiss?
RN Bhaskar
The metaphor that could best describe India is an empty classroom in a not too swanky school. This is the image which comes to mind...
NMDC’s lust for foreign gold is mysterious indeed
NMDC rushes to seek gold overseas, when goldfields and mine development are pending in India.
RN Bhaskar
On 5 November, NMDC made an unusual announcement – captured by Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indias-nmdc-subsidiary-legacy-iron-ore-mine-gold-australia-2023-11-05/). It said that it...
Loans will continue to rise if unemployment is not eased
RN Bhaskar
Last week India’s central bank, the RBI, revised and tightened norms for borrowings, raised risk weights for personal loans and credit cards. That will make the cost of borrowing...
The politics and economics behind the two DFCs
RN Bhaskar
By any reckoning, the dedicated freight corridor (DFC) idea was a great concept.
Immensely relevant
As J M Baxi, noted consultant, states (https://www.jmbaxi.com/newsletter/issue-xxvi/dedicated-freight-corridor.html), “The existing trunk routes of Howrah-Delhi on the Eastern Corridor...
Can the government be wiser than the markets when it comes to capital allocation?
By RN Bhaskar
Economists are generally agreed that governments can be terribly poor in allocation of resources for economic development.
Yes, there are exceptions. When a nation is...
Will debt spur India’s GDP growth this time despite textiles languishing?
RN Bhaskar
On 31 October, 2023, the RBI governor, Shaktikanta Das, stated that the growth momentum in the economy continues to be strong, and that the GDP number for the...
Derivatives, USA and Armageddon
By RN Bhaskar
In a way, the world has been too gentle with the US. It has allowed that country to play around with other people’s money, to create and abrogate treaties at will, to stoutly deny...
Splurge even if you are going bankrupt
RN Bhaskar
Most economists agree that governments can either control interest rates, or exchange rates. They cannot do both. If the government controls interest rates to tamp down inflation, then the repercussions will be...
India stunts its middle-class growth
RN Bhaskar
Not a month passes by in India without eulogies being paid to this country’s growing middle class. This is important for several reasons. The middle class has purchasing power. The greater the number of...
