-
Has the back of inflation been broken? Evidence is thin
The best price index in India is the CPI-IW (the consumer index for industrial workers). 'Headline inflation' in India corresponds to the widely watched year-on-year change in the CPI-IW. The accompanying graph shows us the experience of inflation in India from 1999 onwards. The informal target #CPI #Inflation #Numbers
-
Why protests don’t end up in change: We need more wonks
The first element of achieving change is a dissatisfied public that is able to speak up. In places like China, freedom of speech is circumscribed and it is not that easy to express dissatisfaction with the way things are going. In India also, freedom of speech is under #Crony capitalism #Delhi gangrape #Great smog #HowThisWorks
-
How India’s focus on welfare is damaging law and order
There is fresh rage on the bad state of law and order in India today. That rage is entirely appropriate. My father was born in 1926 and experienced British rule. One of the high points of his life was participation in the freedom movement. He used to say to me with #Delhi gangrape #Law & Order #Welfare
-
Emkay fiasco: We need a resilient market, not a costly failsafe one
My previous blog post, on not cancelling (stock market) trades after a fat finger trade (as in the Emkay case) , elicited some interesting email conversations. In a nutshell, there are two views of the world. One camp argues that it is important to prevent fat finger trades and #BSE #Emkay Trade #InMyOpinion #NSE
-
Why Indian capitalism isn’t doomed despite cronyism
India's problem of crony capitalism The rise of modern capitalism in India in the 1990s was at first viewed in optimistic terms. A new breed of companies was born, who seemed to exhibit a new kind of competence, international competitiveness and high ethical standards. We could start putting our old mistrust #Crony capitalism
-
Maruti violence: Is Bihar now better than Haryana?
The news from Maruti is disgusting. I have been curiously watching how the stock market takes it in: That Maruti has serious labour problems has been known for a long time. But the brutality that unfolded in recent days was out of the world. It was #Bihar and Haryana #Manesar Violence #MarutiUnrest
-
There is no tradeoff between growth and inflation
All of us are aware of India's inflation crisis. It is very disappointing, how we lost our grip on stable 4-to-5 percent inflation which was prevailing earlier. From February 2006 onwards, in every single month, the y-o-y Consumer Price Index (Industrial Workers) inflation has exceeded the upper bound of 5 #Business/Finance #Growth vsInflation #Monetary policy #Stagflation #Tradeoffs
-
What security? Costs of KYC outweigh the benefits
Only in a police state is the job of a policeman easy. - Orson Welles The policemen of India say: It is only by using onerous and intrusive tracking procedures that we will be able to block terrorism, tax evasion, money laundering. But society should be designed for the convenience of the #KYC #Money laundering #Open wifi networks #Security
-
A setback to public sector elementary education
A recurrent theme in the field of public administration is the appropriate separation, between things done within government qua government, versus the things that are best contracted out. Example: A fascinating question in finance is the supervisory role of exchanges. Do we want exchanges to be rule makers and the front #Education #education services #India #Right to Education
-
Delhi airport hike: precedent that will be closely watched
Many elements of infrastructure have natural monopoly characteristics. Under these conditions, if the owner of the infrastructure is profit-maximising, he is likely to impose high user charges and extract a monopoly rent. As a consequence, in many infrastructure services in most countries, independent regulators are established which control the user #AERC #AirportFees #Business/Finance #Delhi Airport #Infrastructure #OnOurMind