Category: Economics

Government to import wheat & sugar ! Election time is not the time to talk of basic economic truths or substantive policy issues. And when you have the party like BJP it is extremely difficult to go for objective discussions! We have a Prime Minister who is admired widely, even abroad for what he had…

When Bankers talk! They forget small people! They forget their high positions, their social responsibility! When bankers make news it is always about big finance. Big money speaks loud and hence makes news. Have you ever read about any big banker or bankers talking about priority credit targets? Or, the social responsibilities of public sector…

Our economic policies, do seem a bit out of ideas tune with the globalising world. It is the `new economy’ sectors, IT, the outsourcing services sector are creating visible wealth and high paying employment. This government doesn’t understand modern economy’s dynamics. The prevailing economic paradigm is totally out of date, we can say with confidence….

Studied economics, didn’t become an economist ! I became an entrepreneur! Yes, it is ironical that I studied economics both at Santiniketan and Oxford and yet I didn’t become an economist! Instead I had always wanted to become an entrepreneur, wanted to have my own independence, I wanted money, lots of money and do a…

When I studied economics in the late Fifties economics was essentially an English discipline. It is no more! There are not many students now to study economics or do PhDs! It is now more an American discipline. In India economics still has some glamour but things are changing very fast here too. Economics doesn’t give…

Economics alone doesn’t save a government Economists in India had enjoyed periods of much recognition and also much neglect. In Independent India, under Nehru, economists came to much public notice. P.C.Mahalanobis, V.K.R.V. Rao and many others, including the foreign economists of the calibre of Nicholas Kaldor and Tan Tinbergen, Oscar Lange (Communist economist) were more…

Should the government engage foreign consultants? When the government reconstituted the Planning Commission, we wrote the Commission be headed by some practical politician of repute. There are very practical reasons for making these suggestions. The previous Vajpayee government, knowingly or unknowingly nominated many lightweights, some plainly unworthy, some plain party enthusiasts. So, the Planning Commission…

Some unasked and unanswered questions! India should get prepared for new roles in this century! Our democracy is well-established and well-recognised. But there are concerns. The quality of our polity, the quality of our leaders and the performance of the various agencies under the Constitution need to be assessed and evaluated. New parameters in the…