The Problem with “Universal Basic Income”

MANY economists have been advocating a universal basic income for India, an idea that was mooted even in the official Economic Survey for 2016-17. Of course the practical proposals towards this end have varied, some suggesting a common universal transfer to all persons below a certain income, and others suggesting a graded transfer depending on how badly off an individual happens to be.

The Poverty of UN Poverty Estimates

ON April 3 this year, the minister of state for planning, Rao Inderjeet Singh, said in the Rajya Sabha that the government had no data after 2011-12 for estimating poverty, and therefore had no idea how many people had been lifted out of poverty since then. On July 18 however the UNDP announced that between 2005 and 2019, India had lifted 415 million persons out of poverty; it had of course no information for the post-pandemic period, but for the pre-pandemic period what it said generated much hype.

When Can There Be a Fall in the Rate of Profit?

SEVERAL major economists have put forward theories predicting a falling tendency of the rate of profit under capitalism; Marx had seen in this fact an awareness on their part of the essential transitoriness of the capitalist system. But while some of these theories have logical validity, others do not. Among the latter is Adam Smith’s theory.Adam Smith had attributed the falling tendency of the rate of profit to the fact of “excessive” capital accumulation.

Third World External Debt in the Light of Simple Economics

INDIA and other third world countries can morally justify their being a part of G-20 alongside the imperialist powers, only if they raise common and pressing problems of the third world as a whole at G-20 meetings. Perhaps the most pressing of such problems today is the problem of external debt, which the current crisis of neo-liberal capitalism has brought to the forefront. India, as the chairman and host of the next G-20 meet, must raise the issue of relief from external debt for the third world at this meet.

Is What We Have “Crony Capitalism”?

FASCISTIC elements exist in every modern society, but usually as fringe, marginal or minor elements. They move centre-stage only when they get the support of monopoly capital which provides them with ample money and media coverage; and this happens when there is a capitalist crisis that substantially increases unemployment and puts a question mark on the hegemony enjoyed by monopoly capital until then.

The FCI’s Bizarre Logic

THE Karnataka government’s plan to launch its “Anna Bhagya” scheme on July 1 under which it was planning to provide 10 kg of free rice per month to each family below the poverty-line has run into problems because of the Food Corporation of India’s unwillingness to sell any rice to that state. Since the current central scheme provides 5 kg of free rice to each BPL family, the Karnataka scheme would have provided an additional 5 kg per month to about 1.19 crore BPL and Antyodaya card-holders.

The Implications of Dollar Hegemony

HOW exactly is the dollar’s status as reserve currency related to imperialism? This question has two parts: how this status of the dollar is related to US imperialism, and how it is related to the overall imperialist arrangement. The dollar’s being a reserve currency makes it (and dollar-denominated assets in general) a medium of wealth-holding in the world economy, a role that precious metals, like gold, and to a lesser extent silver, have played historically.

Pitfalls of Export-Led Growth

AFTER Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Bangladesh has become the third country in our neighbourhood to become afflicted by a serious economic crisis. It has asked for a $4.5 billion loan from the IMF, apart from $1 billion from the World Bank and $2.5-3 billion from multilateral agencies and donor nations.

The Q4 GDP Estimates for 2022-23

THE estimates of India’s Gross Domestic Product for the fourth quarter of 2023 were released on May 31. These show a growth rate of 6.1 per cent over the fourth quarter of the previous year, which is higher than the 4.4 per cent growth that the October-December quarter had recorded over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Is “De-Globalisation” Occurring?

MANY economists these days talk of a process of “de-globalisation” taking place; some others talk of the neoliberal regime of yesteryears no longer existing. Of course, nothing remains the same forever: as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus had said “You cannot step into the same river twice”; some change in the neoliberal order therefore is inevitable with the passage of time.

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