BUSINESS
When the facts change, do central bankers change their minds?
We are all agog to know whether Jayanth Varma’s question will be answered at Jackson Hole
BUSINESS
RBI State of the Economy Report: The Maya of Inflation and the Leela of Growth
Inflation is transitory, as are all things, while growth will depend on our karma
BUSINESS
Did the US invasion help the Afghan economy?
Economic growth was strong initially, but as aid dwindled and foreign troops left, the economy stalled. With the US gone, will it be advantage China?
INDIA
The mystery of the falling unemployment rate in the midst of a pandemic
What exactly is the point of counting a person as employed if he has worked for just an hour in the preceding week?
BUSINESS
Hijacked by capital: Why China is cracking down on its Internet companies
The principal contradiction is the one between capitalism and the market on the one hand and Chinese state control on the other
BUSINESS
July Flash PMIs: Supply disruption is behind both inflation and growth scare
Expansion continues to be robust for the US, Eurozone and the UK, but momentum is slowing
SCIENCE
Book Review | Those magnificent men who built science in newly independent India
Why did these extraordinary minds develop science in a newly created India? The book offers a perspective
BUSINESS
RBI study: The pandemic has seen big firms gaining market share
It’s part of a long-term trend in which the biggest firms have been steadily increasing their share of the pie
BUSINESS
Confidence in global reflation trade dented, says RBI report
The economy is struggling to regain the momentum of recovery that had started in the second half of 2020-21, but was interrupted by the second wave
BUSINESS
McKinsey study shows rich getting richer, big getting bigger, in last 25 years
Between 1995 and 2019 in the US, the richest 10 per cent of US households increased their share of equity, pooled funds and retirement savings by seven percentage points to two-thirds of the total, largely at the expense of the next 40 per cent of households
WORLD
Is today the hundredth anniversary of the Communist Party of China or the Capitalist Party of China?
What kind of communism allows the means of production to be privately owned? What communist government will tolerate such a huge rise in inequality? And the Third Plenum of the CPC in 2013 had said that market forces would play ‘a decisive role’. Communism, really?
BUSINESS
BIS builds three scenarios for the global economy
So far, the recovery has been surprisingly strong. ‘The craving for normality has prevailed’, says the BIS Annual Economic Report
BUSINESS
The priority now must be vaccination, not a fiscal stimulus
Government support by way of credit guarantees and food and fertiliser subsidies is the right policy, till the masses are vaccinated
BUSINESS
The impact of the first wave of the pandemic on household finances
Paradoxically, household financial liabilities as a percentage of financial assets has gone down in 2020
BUSINESS
Has China shifted from exporting deflation to exporting inflation instead?
The US import price index for shipments from China has risen sharply in the past few months
BUSINESS
GuruSpeak: John Maynard Keynes -- path-breaking economist, smart investor, swashbuckling speculator
Over the course of his life, Keynes changed course from speculating in the currency and commodity markets to investing in equities. He altered his strategy from a top-down macro approach to bottom-up stock picking, with stellar results. His art collection too gave good returns
BUSINESS
If demand has been hit, as MPC says, how can companies pass on higher costs?
The MPC says that demand has been affected by the second wave while supply has proved resilient. But shouldn’t that lead to lower prices?
BUSINESS
RBI report says second wave caused Rs 2 trillion hit to economy and defends quote fests
The State of the Economy report says the Indian economy will not only bounce back from the pandemic but will unshackle itself from pre-existing cyclical and structural hindrances
BUSINESS
RBI has no option but to ignore inflation now to support the recovery
The spurt in inflation in May has been exacerbated due to the local lockdowns, but even core inflation has gone up and inflationary expectations are already very high
ECONOMY
Wary of inflation? A bit of it is actually good for growth
Trying to push inflation down to the 4 per cent level has a cost by way of lower growth
BUSINESS
New corporate tax deal: A tectonic shift in the global economy?
With the G7 agreement on a global minimum corporate tax rate, we could be seeing a new phase of Karl Polanyi’s ‘double movement’
BUSINESS
Unemployment in South Asia will remain higher in 2022 than in 2019, says ILO
Income support policies, the ILO says, are needed for the vulnerable. Could increasing capital gains tax help?
BUSINESS
India’s manufacturing sector continued to expand marginally in May despite the lockdowns
The Monetary Policy Committee will have to consider rising inflation in manufactured goods prices
BUSINESS
In the January-March 2021 quarter, growth climbed to the pre-pandemic level
If we leave out the agriculture sector, then growth in the non-farm sector of the economy in Q4, 2020-21, was 3.8 per cent, well above the 3.1 per cent growth in the non-farm sector in Q4, 2019-20.
