|
''Planning''
for Whom? |
| Oct
12th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
There
are some fundamental changes in the Planning Commission's
current perspective relative to the earlier periods.
In the post-Independence years, pursuit of profit was
not seen as being in the social interest and this was
reflected in the nature of development planning. But
now, profit is the sole motive and the role of the state
is to merely facilitate this by incentivising corporate
activity.
|
|
| Afterword
on a Movement |
| Sep
7th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Any
undermining of parliamentary democracy represents a
huge social retrogression. But a positive fall-out from
the Hazare movement hopefully is self-rectification
by the ''democratic State'' in the face of this challenge.
However, the Hazare group's assault on parliamentary
institutions and exclusive emphasis on corruption within
the state machinery, to the exclusion of the corporate
sector and civil society groups, could turn out to be
a part of an agenda of converting Indian democracy into
a ''corporatocracy''.
|
|
| Public
Spending on Education in India |
| Jun
29th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
|
The
failure of the government to provide universal access
to quality schooling and to ensure equal access to higher
education among all socio-economic groups as well as
across gender and region has significant implications
for equitable socio-economic advancement. Ensuring a
reasonable quality of education to all children will
necessarily require a significant expansion of the public
resources to be provided. |
|
| |
| Mar
10th 2011, Jayati Ghosh |
| Cash
transfers cannot and should not replace the public provision
of essential goods and services, but rather supplement
them. However, the current tendency is to see these
as a further excuse for the reduction of publicly provided
services. In India, where much of the development project
still remains woefully incomplete, the urge to adopt
this latest international development fashion involves
several risks. |
|
| |
| Mar
10th 2011, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
| This
budget is afflicted to a far greater degree than before
by a kind of cynicism that leads to policy paralysis.
It lacks any focus or strategy whatsoever, and sticks
to fiscal conservatism. Thus while paying lip service
to ''inclusion'', it delivers little of it, since very
few of the incremental expenditure allocations are significant
when measured as a ratio to GDP. |
|
| Budget
2011-12 and Education |
| Mar
9th 2011,
Jayati Ghosh |
|
| The
budget allocations for the education sector are not
sufficient for fulfilling the commitments made by the
Centre in the sector. In particular, it seems that the
financial burden of ensuring the right to education
is to be thrust on the state governments, which might
find it difficult to raise the required resources.
|
|
| The
Budget and the Indian Economy |
| Mar
7th 2011,
Jayati Ghosh |
|
| The
Budget certainly benefits the Indian elite class, but
the conditions of the majority of people whose lives
continue to languish in dreadful conditions are not
going to get better. This is because it has not addressed
the two major issues that matter for most people, namely
food inflation as well as productive and gainful employment.
|
|
| Budget
2011-12 |
| Mar
7th 2011,
Jayati Ghosh |
|
| The
Budget is remarkable for its effective rejection of
the interests of the common people. Instead of focusing
on measures that will increase food supply and food
distribution, the government has curtailed allocation
for food subsidy. In the case of employment, the presumption
seems to be that economic growth on its own will deliver
more jobs; but this is not likely.
|
|
|
| Fiscal
Policy and Global Growth |
| Jul
27th 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
|
Across
the world governments are debating whether it is time
to exit from their fiscal response to the global crisis
and return to austerity and fiscal consolidation. This
may be premature, since the question whether there was
indeed such a generalized and adequate fiscal response
that triggered a recovery remains unanswered. |
|
| 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. |
|
| The
Oil Price Hike |
| Jun28th
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. |
|
|
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. |
|
| Controlling
Food Prices |
| Feb
23rd 2010, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
| Food
price inflation is one of the most critical economic
problems in the country today, and the ability to control
these prices quickly and effectively is one of the main
bases on which people will judge the performance of
this government. This article examines the recent pattern
of inflation in important food items and considers the
possible causes, including the growing distribution
margins. |
|
| Who
Needs these Taxes? |
| Sep
1st 2009, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
| If
increasing its fiscal manoeuvrability and greater transparency
and equity were the objectives that the government was
pursuing through a tax reform, then a revamp of the
existing tax law to get rid of a wide range of unnecessary
exemptions would have been adequate. However, the draft
direct tax code is a signal that UPA II plans to continue
with the policy of cajoling private capital into investing
for growth with concessions that have adverse equity
and welfare implications. |
|
| Alternative
Perspectives on Panchayati Raj |
| May
8th 2009, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
| Panchayati
Raj should not be viewed either as a mere ''governance
arrangement'' or as an end in itself. It is a means
of social transformation that derives its legitimacy
exclusively from the perspective of how far it facilitates
this process of social transformation. If we miss the
transformational role of panchayati raj, then we may
end up condoning and even accentuating caste and class
oppression in the countryside and also weakening the
State structure. |
|
| How
to Spend the Money |
| Mar
6th 2009, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
| One
of the significant impact of the financial crisis on
the world of ideas is that it has brought to the forefront
the recognition of the role of the government expenditure
in mitigating recessions, as was advocated by Keynes
and Kalecki. This article makes a theoretical case for
undertaking Keynesian measures to cope with the recession.
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