Ilian Mihov, Professor of Economics at INSEAD, holds forth on the lessons of the collapse of the ‘golden age’ of the late 1920s. What is the biggest lesson from the Great Depression? In my view, it is that monetary policy and the financial sector play a crucial role in economic development. Let me put it [...]
Why is Bengal, one of the largest sources of coal in the world, importing coal from abroad? Long-time reader and IEB friend, Joydeep Mukherji sent us this article with a comment: The West Bengal government has decided to import one lakh tonne of coal at higher rates to fuel the thermal power plants which have [...]
Mukul Asher, a professor at the LKY School of Public Policy in Singapore and Amarendu Nandy, a research scholar at the same university, have a thought-provoking guest post: A recent ASSOCHAM Business Barometer Survey of 258 faculty members of MBA programs in India found that most professors did not know basic facts about the national [...]
Let us rejoice at the government’s consideration for the defence services. As per the finance ministry’s directive on austerity measures for the government, All non-plan expenditure heads excluding interest payment, repayment of debt, defence capital, salaries, pensions and the finance commission grants to states will be subjected to a mandatory 5 per cent cut.[IE] Does [...]
V Anantha Nageswaran A table of inflation rates in many countries around the world is beginning to reveal a disturbing picture. The lowest rate is found in Germany – at 3.0%. Many emerging countries that seem to be doing a truthful job are reporting inflation rates in excess of 10% and some in excess of [...]
Long-time reader Joydeep Mukherji sends us this (via email) This article talks about a program for Jains to donate money to help teach Jain students for free. It seems like a nice idea. Perhaps other groups (Patels, Jats, Chettiars) can follow their example. However, it may be a bad idea if you think that such [...]
Should foreign law firms be allowed into India? No, says Cyril Shroff, Managing Partner of Amarchand Mangaldas, one of India’s largest law firms. Amarchand and other large Indian law firms have benefited immensely from liberalization in India. However, when it comes to opening up the legal sector, here’s Mr Shroff touting shibboleths like a good [...]
Chandra Kochar, joint managing director and chief financial officer of India’s largest privately owned bank, $80 billion ICICI Bank, is bullish on India growth story. She contends that the growth in India is shifting from consumerism to manufacturing and infrastructure. In the last five to seven years, India has grown on the basis of its [...]
The relevant question is not Who are we going to trust but What are we going to trust? Arnold Kling wrote a freewheeling essay last year Should You Trust the Government? in which he points out In the case of government, there is good trust and there is bad trust. Good trust is trust in [...]
A new research paper titled Trading Population for Productivity: Theory and Evidence by Oded Galor and Andrew Mountford focuses on a novel Unified Growth Theory. The paper argues that the – differential effect of international trade on the demand for human capital across countries has been a major determinant of the distribution of income and [...]
Raj Chetty, an associate professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, is the winner of the The American magazine’s 2008 Young Economist Award, a research grant of $100,000 provided by the Searle Freedom Trust. … To be eligible for the award, economists have to be featured in the magazine’s bimonthly column entitled “The [...]
The Indian Finance Ministry has launched an internship programme. More details available here – link Sounds fascinating. If you’re interested, apply soon, since the deadline is nigh — 15 Jan. A courtesy salaam to Ajay Shah. Q) Is this the first such internship programme in the Finance Ministry?
How many jobs have the new retailers actually created? The Wall Street Journal, in an article last month, writes that jobs in India’s booming retail industry are a ticket out of the slums for many. The article, titled Humble Jobs at the Mall Are Lifting Legions of Indians Out of Poverty and told from the [...]
As another year draws to an end, extracts from two speeches delivered this year — one by an ex-finance minister (who happens to be the current Prime Minister) and another by the current Finance Minister. Both the speeches were delivered to a foreign audience and the extracts reproduced here cover only the hard facts, not [...]
Renowned Australian author and economist Stewart Klegg brings a new angle to the India and China debate. He is scathing in his criticism of the Chinese state apparatus while claiming that there are enormous distortions in the Indian growth model due to a small oligarchy atop the system. India is often compared with China. But [...]
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