Union Budget 2017: Good reasons why I'm not afraid of the fiscal forecast

Unlike Yogendra Yadav , I do not fear the budget. This is largely because I have never quite been able to bridge the instant reactions to the next twelve months and have limited myself to assessing those arrows going up and down in the newspapers indicating what I have to pay more for and petrol and gas are in the top five.

I admit I am so ignorant unlike everyone else who seem to have an in-depth knowledge of how it breaks and can say things like old wine in new bottles and sound profound.

Since we seldom get to read any post-mortem of the last budget and how it panned out these past 365 days in comparison to the promise and how big the chasm was between the perceived and the reality it is truly very difficult for the self-confessed economically deficient to read much into the expected clichés.

For sure we will be told it is a budget for the poor (this is mandated every year) and is aimed at relieving the agricultural sector of their burdens.

The Opposition will immediately call it a rich man’s budget in which the unrealistic (also mandated) proposals haven’t a hope in hell. By the same token it will be dispatched as impractical and an exercise in pulling the wool over the public eyes.

Some famous economist will then weigh in and tell us it is a robust budget which is fine by me, seeing as how a bit of robustness is a good thing since no one wants a weak and sickly budget.

If Rahul Gandhi is given a chance or he grabs it himself he will tell us it is populist and each year one segment invariably tells us this and I have never figured out what is wrong with populist. Populist is good if you are sucking up to the public that voted you into power that is wonderful.

Though, if taxes are heightened it is tough to see how it is populist what with the government giving itself another raise.

Everyone is talking about the possibility of creating something akin to the dole and promoting the welfare state which, of course, is a sop for not creating employment and just adds to the sloth in the nation. Also, can the government afford such largesse.

Around a couple of hours after the speech, while I am still looking around for graphics with arrows going up and down to get a grip on it all well-known NRIs will either moan and groan about being ignored and left out or call it a strong, industry based budget that is certain to galvanise production. Every year the budget galvanises industry so it must really be haring around by now. This is termed a fiscal stimulus, that ‘s’ word making an appearance frequently.

At this point some spokesman for the government will announce that the budget reflects ‘doing more with less’ and we will all nod wisely and wish we had thought of saying it first. He will elaborate by telling us that it is a bulwark against unfettered market capitalism.

Education and health are the other two bean bags that get tossed around and one detractor will give a sound bite to the effect that all the government has done is kick the can further down the road.

Government will also tell us they have reduced spending and will reduce it further which is a happy thing to say.

Every democracy also says: Economic and social justice is integral to our agenda – the vision of a just and fair society.

Yea, yippee, now if I can only find some outdated newspaper that still carries the arrows.