|
Managing
the Mass Media |
| Aug
31st 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| Some
recent Indian experiences have led to the formation
of a consensus that the mass media have become sensationalist
and scandal-obsessed, often irresponsible and generally
insensitive. The problem is getting so much worse that
there is a need to think of new and creative ways to
make sure that our media is actually accountable to
the general public, including those without any political
voice to speak of. |
|
| Indian
IT: Privileged, protected and pampered |
| Aug
31st 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| One
possible reason for the Indian IT industry's protest
against the US move to increase visa costs for Indian
companies could be that the industry has received privileged
treatment at home for more than a decade. But given
these special privileges one question that has constantly
been posed is, are there adequate reasons to justify
their provision? |
|
| Multidimensional
Poverty in India |
| Aug
30th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| It
is increasingly being realised that poverty is much
more than a lack of adequate income, and therefore there
have been efforts to develop broader concepts of poverty
that recognise its multidimensional nature and allow
for interventions that address different dimensions
of poverty. |
|
| The
Sacred Cow |
| Aug
23rd 2010, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| The
bourgeoisie argument that development of infrastructure
is in the interest of society and investment for it
must be encouraged at all costs ignores the fact that
infrastructure has a class character as well. Essentially,
we must distinguish between ''infrastructure'' that
is in the interests of the people at large and ''infrastructure''
that uses social resources for the benefit of the few.
|
|
| Managing
the Food Economy |
| Aug
17th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| The
National Advisory Council's proposal for a system of
targeted universalisation will simply limit the impact
of the PDS. The proposal is based on the grounds of
constrained supply whereas in reality there seems to
be excess stockholding by the government which can be
utilised to ensure access to food as well as widen and
deepen the productive base in the agricultural sector. |
|
| Engineered
Inflation |
| Aug
2nd 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| With
prices of essentials already on the rise, the move to
hike petroleum product prices threatens to make inflation
the country's principal economic problem. This will
have serious future implications with an aggravation
of inflationary trends that currently burden the common
person, and the success of the July 5 bandh
was a reflection of a strong public expression of anger
and opposition to the move. But why the government is
adopting such policies that transfer most of the burden
onto the aam aadmi and aggravate inflation
need to be assessed. |
|
| Fiscal
Discipline and All That |
| Jul
27th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| There
was a sudden resurgence in Keynesian ideas everywhere
when the global financial crisis broke in September
2008. But, equally suddenly, financial markets have
once again turned back on state intervention and policy
makers are giving in to demands for massive cuts in
public expenditure that would require enormous sacrifices
from their populations. |
|
| Mining
as Primitive Accumulation |
| Jul
20th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| The
mining sector is increasingly seen as one in which the
worst features of capitalism as a profit machine combine
with illegality and corruption to provide a site for
primitive accumulation based on plunder and unequal
exchange. |
|
| The
Choice before the Maoists |
| Jul
9th 2010, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| The
course of development of the Maoist movement indicates
that conceptually they are privileging identity politics
over class politics. While class politics can have room
for reckoning with identity, there is no route from
identity politics to class politics. Therefore, for
the Maoist movement to merge into class politics it
must negate itself as identity politics. |
|
| The
Oil Price Hike |
| Jun
28th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| The
most obvious reason behind the government's decision
to ''free'' the price of petroleum products - even as
inflation has emerged as a major problem - seems to
be that it has chosen to favour the private companies
in this sector. But, the current strategy puts the entire
burden of irrational shifts in the international prices
of oil on the consumer, and the burden sharing involved
is extremely regressive. |
|
| Money
Illusion |
| Jun
17th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| The
perception created by the spectrum auction that there
is much money in government coffers to pursue a social
agenda is an illusion for two reasons. First, whatever
money appears to be at hand is not available in the
long term. Second, the new receipts from the private
sector that create this illusion could be substantially
matched by reduced government receipts in other areas
or reverse flows to the private sector. |
|
|
Private Corruption and the State |
| May
15th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| Private
actors can use the power of government agents to facilitate
profit-making just as public servants can try and skim
off a part of the surpluses earned by private players
in areas where government intervention can influence
outcomes. But, instances of private corruption do not
get half the importance instances of public corruption
receive in the media. |
|
|
Foreign Aid or Aiding the Foreign? |
| May
1st 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| The
passing of a draft version of the Foreign Educational
Institutions Bill by the Union Cabinet has raised certain
questions with protagonists and opponents expressing
a range of views on the subject. While there is a fear
that the process underway is one of creating a window
for foreign players and then changing the rules in their
favour, question is also raised whether the implementation
of the Bill amounts to skewing further the inequality
in access to higher education. |
|
|
The Spectre of Public Debt |
| Apr
21st 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| The
sovereign debt crisis of Greece has led to appeals for
a reduction in the size of public debt in countries
worldwide. Given that increasing taxes and reducing
expenditures may not be considered viable options, there
would soon be strident calls for disinvestment and privatisation
aimed at generating the resources needed for this. |
|
|
Revisiting the Growth Story |
| Mar
29th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| Although
the official statement of the Economic Survey 2009-10
that the economy is set to return to the pre-crisis
trajectory of 9 per cent growth per annum has generated
much optimism with regard to GDP growth, there is reason
to be sceptical about the growth story being told. |
|
|
The Political Economy of the Enabling State |
| Mar
10th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| While
this year's Economic Survey identifies the basic goal
of economic policy as inclusive growth, this is to be
delivered by a change in focus to an enabling government
from an actively interventionist one. This vision excludes
the possibility that the process of market-driven economic
growth itself generates greater material insecurity
and impoverishment for a significant section of the
population. |
|
|
Will Women's Reservation in Parliament make a Difference? |
| Mar
9th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| The
huge gender gaps that continue to persist in India's
socio-economic outcomes, as well as the gender-blind
nature of the design and implementation of policies
point to the urgency of having more women legislators
who can shape the content of law, as well as redirect
policies to move away from the traditional male breadwinner
model to a more gender-sensitive and inclusive approach.
|
|
| What
Small Government Means |
| Mar
1st 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| Against
the backdrop of the debt ‘crisis' in Greece and growing
cries around fiscal "profligacy", this article
argues that those demanding austerity of governments
that have built up large fiscal deficits and accumulated
debt, are not ideologically committed to minimal government.
The so-called "backlash" against the state
is a demand for governance of a particular kind, that
favours the already well endowed at the expense of those
who have not shared in the benefits of development. |
|
|
Financial Euphoria and Aftershock |
| Feb
24th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| John
Kenneth Galbraith's analysis of the capitalist economy
in the delightfully written tract ''A Short History
of Financial Euphoria'' remains as relevant today as
it was then. However, unlike what Galbraith offers,
the solution to capitalism's proneness to recurrent
bouts of speculation has to go beyond capitalist markets
and profit motivation. |
|
|
K.N. Raj: Outstanding economist, institution builder,
beacon for young people |
| Feb
15th 2010, C.
Rammanohar Reddy |
|
| The
years after independence saw a number of outstanding
young men and women throw their hearts and bodies into
building a new India. K.N. Raj was a giant of that generation.
Professor Raj was many things: an outstanding economist,
an excellent teacher, a builder of institutions, a beacon
for young people and, not least, someone who could think
well ahead of his time. |
|
|
The WTO as Barrier to Financial Regulation |
| Feb
8th 2010, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| Many
of the financial regulatory proposals now being considered
by developed countries might not be feasible given the
legally binding commitments these countries have made
under GATS with respect to financial services liberalisation.
Such WTO rules may therefore get ignored or GATS may
require to be renegotiated, for the necessary financial
sector reforms to take place. |
|
| The
Danger of a Double Dip |
| Jan
29th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| In
the current circumstances, dealing with inflation by
tightening monetary policy and exiting from the fiscal
stimulus may not be a good idea if the government does
not increase its outlays in areas other than wages and
salaries in the next fiscal. |
|
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