INDIA
Consumer Conundrum: To be roiled by high tariffs or by the rising mercury
The political economy of power pricing discourages the utility to purchase high-cost power, even if that results in load shedding. Heat waves make load shedding unpopular. The alternative is to bite the bullet and raise tariffs
WORLD
Xi Jinping’s Europe visit works to India’s advantage
The context of Xi's visit is burgeoning European desire to consolidate a European geopolitical salience
WORLD
How nations can unite to make the pandemic treaty work
Governments, donors and pharma giants should build a string of mRNA vaccine production facilities around the world, and the US government, which funded the research leading to mRNA intellectual property, should buy out that IP or finance its extensive licensing. Funds for making vaccines and therapeutics can be mobilized via a pandemic-specific Catastrophe bond issuance
WORLD
Will Netanyahu defeat Biden in the November US presidential elections?
For Biden to placate young voters, he must be seen to play peacemaker and bringing both Israel and Palestine closer to a two-state solution.
TRENDS
Iran’s strike on Israel gives Netanyahu a reprieve with allies, may benefit Ukraine
Iran called its attack on Israel a 'defensive response' to the strike on Iran's consulate in Syria's Damascus allegedly by Tel Aviv. It was followed by a warning of a more severe attack if 'Israeli regime make(s) another mistake'
BUSINESS
Bet on Chinese economic decline at your own peril
There is reason to believe that China is transitioning to a more mature stage of economic growth, rather than going down a slope of decline. It would be wrong for India to fashion plans based on any assumption of Chinese economic decline
BUSINESS
Boeing Crisis: Time for India to step into aircraft manufacturing as demand soars
Boeing’s troubles present an opportunity for India to foray into making large aircraft. It would help India realise its own unconstrained growth, and give the world a non-Chinese alternative
WORLD
What Trump’s tantrums portend
Donald Trump, yet again, reveals the threat he poses to the American economy and society. His rant against imported cars at a time when the US economy is doing reasonably well and incitement of racist violence imperils the world order that America presides over
INDIA
Investigate possible use of electoral bonds for money laundering
During an electoral bond’s 15-day life cycle, it can be used to conveniently move large amounts of anonymous money, settle shady transactions without leaving a money trail, and even channel money routed through shell companies to political parties. Riddled with such opportunities for money laundering, this allowed for a ready secondary market for electoral bonds. A fit case for investigation by central agencies exists
BUSINESS
The trouble with cheaper cooking gas as a gift for women on International Women’s Day
The manner in which government has described its cooking gas subsidy as a gift to Indian women reinforces gender stereotypes of women as the sole custodians of the kitchen. Cheaper cooking gas should gladden the hearts of not just women, but also of men, or it will over time, lead to our decline as a people, as an economy, as a nation. South Korea serves a warning
BUSINESS
Household Consumption Survey: A worrying concentration of income that doesn’t help industrial growth
The average for the most well-off 5 percent in urban areas still falls short of Rs 21,000. One percent of India’s population is 14 million. A consuming class of 2 percent of the population would be roughly as large as Belgium and the Netherlands put together. Indians shouldn’t be happy with the statistical reduction in poverty. Growth in industrial demand and a mass market depend on growing purchasing power with the masses. A growth strategy, with special focus on education, making India’s youth employable and generating income at a high level of productivity, is needed
INDIA
Electoral bonds were a sham. Get real on unaccounted political funding
Recorded contributions, whether via electoral bonds or plain contributions for which parties issue receipts, form only a part, probably a tiny part, of the total spending by political parties. The bulk of their expenditure is carried out by unaccounted money. Then why have electoral bonds, with their state-sanctioned secrecy?
BUSINESS
Time to let go of the election symbol
The Election Commission playing judge and assigning the symbol in times of party splits should give way to a more fundamental question. From the times of 18 percent literacy in 1952, literacy is very possibly over 80 percent now. it is time to junk symbols and ask people to vote by pressing the button against the name of the candidate and the party he or she represents
BUSINESS
Budget speech checks all the boxes for government in an election year
The commitment to reaching the 4.5 percent fiscal deficit target is commendable. The outlay for capex will shore up the growth momentum. The Interim Budget has served as a platform to highlight the outgoing government's achievements and present a glorious vision for its next term. Nirmala Sitharaman did not disappoint on either count
TRENDS
Indigo Pilot Assault: People can be reasonable, the weather cannot
The passenger who vented his anger on a hapless pilot is way out of line. When the weather is to blame, there is only so much that airlines and their crew can do
BUSINESS
COP28 Agreement: Climate campaigners must focus on carbon removal, not fossil fuels
The biggest fossil fuel producers, which include the US, wouldn’t have had a market but for takers of their products in the very same rich countries whose climate campaigners shout the loudest against fossil fuels. Everyone needs fossil fuels at this time. A more sensible solution is carbon dioxide removal but it isn't a priority yet
TRENDS
Lavish weddings at home or no lavish weddings?
Should those who blow up small fortunes on lavish weddings be asked to spend the money locally or to spend less on weddings and more on capital formation, especially at a time of tepid investment? Many might find such juxtaposition of consumption and investment without taking into account the causal linkages between the two more than a trifle awkward
BUSINESS
Faceless audit needs a human face
India needs faceless audit, but faceless audit must, as it were, have a humane, functional institutional framework, and not leave tax-filing companies to struggle against a wall of impenetrable incomprehension
BUSINESS
Sam Altman’s relevance to personal loan guarantees in India
The shock and sense of injustice that most Indians feel at the ouster of a founder from the company he or she founded also gives, in the same breath, legitimacy to founders being held responsible, without limit, for the failure of the company and for its resultant liabilities
BUSINESS
Enter the dragon robot
The number of robots deployed on factory floors has gone up sharply in China, much faster than in any other country in the world. Between 2017 and 2021, robot density, defined as the number of robots per 10,000 employees in manufacturing, went up from 97 to 322 in China, that is more than trebled
BUSINESS
The Angel Tax should be scrapped, not modified
The Angel Tax has undergone various bits of cosmetic surgery since its introduction in 2012. The latest attempt to soothe frayed nerves in the startup universe has been a clarification that bars the tax from haunting the premises of startups recognised by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade
BUSINESS
Larry Summers makes a fair point, but misses two crucial ones
Summers errs in his approach to climate change and underdevelopment on two counts, at least. He fails to recognise the centrality of carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere in combating climate change, and he ignores the challenge to development posed by coordinated policy rate increases in the developed world
BUSINESS
A reality check on the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor
The corridor deserves India’s full-fledged support as it shows there are alternatives to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Nevertheless, the building of the corridor and its operationalisation will benefit China to some extent because of its competitive advantages. So India mustn’t be under any illusion that the project will selectively boost Indian exports
BUSINESS
Ukraine War: El Nino likely to do what the G20 cannot
Bringing an end to the Ukraine war will help bring back wheat, corn, and sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia to the market. This will help lower inflation and, in turn, help US President Joe Biden's re-election chances.
