The Gathering Storm Clouds

THE last time the Indian economy had faced a serious macro-economic disruption, as distinct from the more or less steady poverty-enhancement that accompanies its growth performance, was in 2013, when the rupee had depreciated sharply.

The So-called “Consumers’ Interest”

IN the wake of the take-over of Flipkart by Walmart, one is once again hearing an argument which one has often come across before, namely that having a large multinational in this sphere, which can do global sourcing for its products, will make goods cheaper for buyers and therefore be in the “consumers’ interests”.

The Prospect of Food Shortage

ORTHODOX economics has for long been haunted by the prospect that the growth in foodgrains output in the world economy would not be sufficiently high to sustain the growing population of the world. Malthus was an early exponent of this fear.

Commoditisation and the Public Sphere

CENTRAL to liberalism is a distinction between two spheres, the sphere of the market (or more generally of the economy) where individuals and firms interact to exchange their wares; and the sphere of public discourse where individuals interact as citizens of a polity to debate and determine the actions of the State. The importance that liberals attach to this second sphere was underscored by Walter Bagehot, the nineteenth century British essayist of liberal persuasion, who had lauded democracy as “government by discussion”.

Trump’s Protectionism

ON March 8, Donald Trump made an announcement which according to many has the potential of starting a global trade war. He announced that the US would be raising tariffs on imported steel by 25 per cent and tariffs on imported aluminium by 10 per cent.Now, the WTO allows tariffs under certain circumstances, against, for instance, some country that is “unfairly” subsidising its exports, or is dumping its goods, which means charging higher prices on the domestic market for the same goods that are sold cheap in the export market.

Technological Change and Impoverishment

THE fact that the socio-economic effects of technological change depend upon the property relations within which such change occurs is obvious but often not appreciated.Consider a simple example. Suppose on a certain area, 100 labourers were engaged for harvesting the crop at a total cost of Rs 5000; but the capitalist-landlord decides to use a harvester combine instead. Then the labourers’ income goes down by Rs 5000. The capitalist-landlord’s wage-cost goes down by Rs 5000, which accrues therefore as an addition to his profits.

The UGC Directive on Autonomous Colleges

HIGHER education in India is facing a twin danger today.

The Nirav Modi Scandal

NIRAV Modi, and his uncle Mehul Choksi, are the latest additions to the list of the so-called “entrepreneurs of new India” who have looted public money and decamped with the loot.

Bubbles, Stocks and Crashes

WHAT is happening in the US economy provides an object lesson on the functioning of neo-liberal capitalism. Pre-first world war capitalism which had witnessed the long Victorian and Edwardian boom had relied on the colonial arrangement for the system’s dynamics.

The 2018-19 Union Budget

THE union budget for 2018-19 sets a new record for cynical dissimulation. To be sure there is a certain amount of “window dressing” in all budgets, but the announcement of fantabulous schemes with scarcely a paisa earmarked for them, as has happened this year, is quite unprecedented in the annals of budget-making in India.Consider for instance the much-hyped “world’s largest healthcare programme” announced in this budget, which is supposed to provide insurance cover for up to Rs 5 lakhs per family to 10 crore families constituting 40 per cent of India’s population.

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Peoples Democracy

ECONOMIC NOTES