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Who are the friends of the poor?
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Published on :
Monday, August 16, 2010 |
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The new Income surveyy of NCAER says that the top quintile has increased its share of income when the bottom three didn't. Many argue that liberal economic reforms have failed. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Most of the labor force is stagnating in agriculture where liberal reforms haven't reached. Labor laws and land laws should be reformed. Most of the ones who claim to be friends of the poor profit from welfare schemes. They are in the top quintile and enjoy scoffing at liberal reforms, writes Meghnad Desai in The Financial Express. |
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IAS: Time for change
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Published on :
Sunday, August 15, 2010 |
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N.R. Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys has made a radical proposal to abolish the IAS. It is the time to do so. The political establishment looks at liberal economic reforms with suspicion, and businessmen are hesitant to tell the Government that it is dysfunctional. Most Government programs don't reach the poor. The Economics reforms have made India prosperous than it ever has been, writes Meghnad Desai in The Indian Express. |
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Don’t blame debt markets’ behaviour
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Published on :
Monday, June 07, 2010 |
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Politicians are always in the search of a scapegoat. The US politicians have blamed traders in CDS and rating agencies for the Greek and budgetary crises. CDS, they aregu, is not like other Insurance contracts. However, there is nothing wrong in insuring others property. Even private enterprises suffer from markets as the experience of Satyam, Prudential Insurance and BP proves, writes Meghnad Desai in The Financial Express. |
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In the dire need of mature politicians
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Published on :
Sunday, February 15, 2009 |
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India has arrived at a grown-up response to Pakistan. Only BJP is now demanding an aggressive response. As the only other national party, it has some responsibility. India does need an alternative national party, if only because a healthy democracy requires opposition. While smaller parties may indulge in anti-Congressism or anti-BJPism, we will need to cluster around the two main alternatives. If one of them, however, was to reject the Constitution in practice, if not in principle, it would be a serious crisis for India, writes Meghnad Desai in the Indian Express. |
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Dealers with dollars
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Published on :
Monday, November 03, 2008 |
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Today, the surplus countries are China and Japan and other Asian countries. There are also sovereign wealth funds which have the reserves to recapitalise the global financial system. Surely, they should be allowed to shape the new IMF. The deficit countries which have over-consumed and run lax monetary and fiscal policies (the G-7) cannot and should not be in the lead when a new architecture is constructed, writes Meghnad Desai in Financial Express. |
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Meandering through a crisis
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Published on :
Monday, October 20, 2008 |
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Crisis is a medical term and it refers to the state of a patient where she is on the cusp; either the patient may succumb or respond to treatment. Even the physician cannot predict the final result. The global financial economy is at such a cusp, writes Meghnad Desai in Financial Express. |
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The Marx-Hayek solution to the crisis
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Published on :
Monday, October 06, 2008 |
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If you seriously believe in free markets, then you let it take its course and rely on the system to correct itself. Don’t feed the fever; starve it. Don’t insulate the system from shocks; expose it so it will become more robust. That would be the Marx-Hayek message. Some may find that surprising; but then Marx was not a Marxist. The optimists think capitalism is on its way out. The pessimists think the mess will go on for much longer. I am a pessimist, writes Meghnad Desai in Financial Express |
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For India, dangerous curves ahead
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Published on :
Sunday, September 28, 2008 |
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India needs to become positive about industrial growth. That requires tackling problems like Mamata Banerjee, Raj Thackeray and the Bajrang Dal, who are ruining Bombay, Calcutta and Bangalore as places to do business. The land acquisition rules need to be updated for a democratic polity, instead of compelling farmers to sell land. Labour laws need radical change to prevent more murders of CEOs by workers who have to take insecure jobs because the present laws make it uneconomical to hire on a permanent basis. Few politicians think about such problems, writes Meghnad Desai in Indian Express |
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What goes up, can at times come down!
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Published on :
Monday, September 22, 2008 |
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My only worry is that every rescue that does not impose severe costs on the shareholders and the CEOs only feeds moral hazard. There is no reason to be kind to any player in the financial markets. If they don’t know markets can go up as well as down, they should not be there. Retail depositors need protection, and for that you should have deposit insurance. But do not feed the bulls please. Let capitalism take its course, writes Meghnad Desai in the Financial Express |
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Ta-Ta economic miracle
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Published on :
Monday, September 08, 2008 |
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With inflation at around 12.5% , it costs Rs 180 crore per annum just to keep the value of Rs 1,500 crore in tact. Forget about making profits. Thus, half a crore a day is what Mamata Banerjee was costing Ratan Tata at the minimum. The total cost of the gherao of Singur will not be known till the entire fracas is over, and till one figures out the costs of relocating the plant and the personnel and the delay in delivering the product. It will perhaps be in the range of at least around Rs 400-Rs 500 crore, writes Meghnad Desai in Financial Express. |
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