HUL and Unilever should put margins on a diet to revive sales growth| Corporate Corridor
HUL’s margins have risen by 8 percentage points in three years, after Unilever set a global operating margin target of 20percent
Chart of the Day | Did the recovery in the global economy continue in December?
The PMIs show a divergence between the US and the other economies, but that has been around for quite some time.
What Xi Jinping really thinks about economics
The key message: While China, as well as other developing nations, must learn and seek help from economic theories that originate in the West, these theories must be adapted to specific national conditions.
Trade | Will WTO be the first casualty of rising nationalism?
With the rise in nationalism and the narrowly-focussed transactional approaches, multilateralism is facing severe challenges at all levels across different institutions.
Madrid talks create a climate of uncertainty
India must take the lead in forging a global consensus to make meaningful progress on environmental issues
Politics | BJP on the back foot in Maharashtra
In just over a month the BJP has gone from being the strongest party in Maharashtra to becoming the most vulnerable and as electorally weak as the others.
US-China trade war. Where do we go from here?
The best solution to the trade war is implementation of structural reforms by the Chinese economy that allows it to move away from its infamous exploitative trade practices.
Arvind Subramanian and India’s Four Balance Sheet problem
Arvind Subramanian’s latest Harvard University paper says the Indian economy is trapped in a vicious circle, as stress in the corporate and financial sectors are feeding on each other, driving the economy downwards
Five reasons why SEBI’s latest diktat is against retail investors
From January, retail investors will have to maintain deposit money with their stockbrokers to buy or sell shares
Citizenship Act | Lessons to learn from BJP’s floor management in Parliament
The Citizenship Amendment Bill being passed in Parliament, especially in the Rajya Sabha, is a good case study to understand how deftly Amit Shah and the BJP won over the support of not just its allies but also regional parties opposing it.
Can fiscal policy save the economy? Many think so
Fiscal policy has come to centre of the macroeconomics world, which has long been dominated by monetary policy
Auditing the auditor: NFRA is fine, but more steps needed
The government would do well to usher in auditing reforms
Trade | How the deadlock in the WTO appellate body affects India
In a growing era where countries are inclined to flout the WTO rules and their own commitments, the uncertainty is a case for concern for developing countries like India.
Non-oil, non-gold & silver imports are lower than they were five years ago
The fall in merchandise imports reflects the weakness in domestic demand
Citizenship Act | For Assam it is about a broken accord and betrayed aspirations
Without implementing the safeguards promised in the 1985 Assam Accord, the Centre has now passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the people of Assam fear that this will further marginalise them politically as well as culturally.
Relief for Indian business as Brexit uncertainty ends partially
India can now start putting in place a new relationship with Britain as a non-EU state
Cautious optimism over US-China deal
Fine print and implementation key to success of the trade pact between two super powers
Trade war and metal stocks: stay in the brace position | Corporate Corridor
A phase one deal between the US and China is a start but a lot more ground needs to be covered before companies or investors can turn bullish
Politics | Criticisms of the CAB do not stand close scrutiny
The legal criteria for the singling out of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the citizenship Act stands on a solid legal criteria, and not some arbitrary concocted one.
WTO setback a wake-up call for India
Government needs to hasten pacts with regional trading blocs
Politics | Protests against CAB are more political than humanitarian
The citizenship Act, in its application, is not about opening doors to new migrants who wish to come to India but more about legalising those already in India and do not figure currently in any official rolls.
Citizenship Amendment Bill | Hollow arguments and farcical allegations
Most of the reasons raised by those opposing the CAB are futile, even misleading. However, the concerns raised from the Northeast are real and must be redressed in a proactive manner.
Citizenship Amendment Bill | Why India must not alienate its close neighbours
Telling a friendly neighbour that you have persecuted your minorities is both bad diplomacy and cocking a snook at those who stood by you in protecting your national security interests — the CAB conveys that to Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Citizenship Amendment Bill | Three big worries the CAB poses
The time to fulfil one festering promise the Congress made and forgot for 35 years has come, besides making the law future-ready and spook-proof.
