Is the Curse of Inflation Over?
The upcoming budget, the government’s priority should be not just the lowering of the rate of inflation but steadying the prices of essential items that the poor consume.
Arun Kumar
Arun Kumar, Malcolm S Adiseshiah Chair Professor, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi and author of ‘Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis: Impact of the Coronavirus and the Road Ahead‘.
Indian Rural Economy: A Closer Look at the Issues
This marginalization of the rural economy is a result of the policymakers’ focus being on the organized part — the modern part of the economy. Modernization of the economy has been taken to be the copying of western modernity. India has not attempted its own modernity suited to the needs of the vast majority living in rural areas. No wonder the agriculture sector which provides the most important item of consumption — food — has been marginalized.
Supreme Court Decision on Demonetization
A flawed process led to erroneous policy which is counterproductive and which resulted in not only damage to democracy but to huge adverse impact on the public, especially the poor. The process by which a policy is arrived at, also determines the outcomes. Can it then be said that the process was legal, even if formally, so the achievement of the objectives does not matter? The Supreme Court’s majority judgment on demonetization is based primarily on the premise that demonetization had a `reasonable nexus’ with the objectives sought to be achieved.
New Free Grain Scheme, Hunger and Poverty
Now, concessional grain being given would no longer be available and the poor will be forced to buy 64% of their foodgrain requirement from the market at a high price. The government has announced free foodgrains to 81 crore poor in the country for one year.
Indian Banking and Finance under the Influence of Global Capital: Impact on Economy and Society
Any analysis of the global finance in India requires one to understand the nature of the current Indian Economy and the issues the world of finance.
RBI Affidavit Obfuscates rather than Clarifying
The government affidavit filed on November 16 justified demonetization by claiming that it was a part of a bigger policy push to digitize and formalize the economy – in its view a beneficial step. The affidavit, in paragraph 15 justifies the decision to demonetize the large denomination currency notes by stating that it was a “well-considered decision” taken after “extensive consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) and advanced preparation”. The implication is that if the decision was wrong, it is the RBI’s (the expert’s) fault.