The scene portrays a crowded bus stop labeled “Government Transport Madras”. Instead of allowing passengers to board normally, a bus conductor stands at the door reading a restrictive government mandate to an astonished crowd. To mock how extreme state-enforced communal reservation could theoretically become, the conductor announces a rigid proportional breakdown of who is permitted onContinue reading “The Paradox of Social Engineering: Why Affirmative Action Risks Becoming Social De-Engineering”
Category Archives: india economics
Entrepreneurship is the Virtue-Signalling of Modern Corporate Capitalism (aka. “the new world order”)
Overview In contemporary political economy, entrepreneurship is often presented as a morally elevated force of innovation, risk-bearing, and social progress. Yet the structure of the modern corporate economy suggests a different interpretation: entrepreneurship functions largely as the legitimating language through which capital organizes production, appropriates profits, and normalizes an unequal distribution of national wealth. AcrossContinue reading “Entrepreneurship is the Virtue-Signalling of Modern Corporate Capitalism (aka. “the new world order”)”
The Great Betrayal: How Labour Lost in Both China and India to Capital in the decade 2014-2024
The Shared Tragedy A blue-collar factory worker in Dongguan, China, and a white-collar IT contractor in Bangalore, India—separated by the Himalayas and 3,000 miles—have something heartbreaking in common: over the past decade, both have watched capital owners capture 4–6 times more wealth per person than they did, despite their nations’ spectacular economic growth. In China, GDPContinue reading “The Great Betrayal: How Labour Lost in Both China and India to Capital in the decade 2014-2024”
Has India’s budget spending on Defence and National Security been as smart and wise as Iran’s turns out to be today ?
Please take a good, long and hard look at the table below . India’s total defence budget outlay has risen 8 fold in the last 25 years ( $11 billion to $91 billion) while Iran’s has risen only 3 times (from around $3 billion to $8 billion in the same period). In 2001, India andContinue reading “Has India’s budget spending on Defence and National Security been as smart and wise as Iran’s turns out to be today ?”
“Access to American Technology” is not such a big deal… India shouldn’t get spooked by a pinprick wound.
Ever since Trump slammed the punitive “left-right punch” tariffs of 25%+25% tariff on India weeks ago, there’s been an ongoing debate in the public square on why our Government’s response has been so pusillanimous if not craven so far. The economic pundits and journalistic commentariat are busy writing copious, dense op-Eds in the nationwide pressContinue reading ““Access to American Technology” is not such a big deal… India shouldn’t get spooked by a pinprick wound.”
Modi-ji, Please don’t let the current Trump-tariff crisis of India go waste!
Below ⬇️ is a jingoistic “forwarded message” that’s going viral on the Whatapp University circuit. Why is Trump angry with India? Is it only because India is buying oil from Russia, or is that just an excuse? And why is it that we are not able to sign even a mini Trade deal, leave aloneContinue reading “Modi-ji, Please don’t let the current Trump-tariff crisis of India go waste!”
With the 11-Year “Narendra Modi Report Card” of Anand Ranganathan, I concur and say, “This was India’s Finest Hour”!
The Modi Era: 2014-2025 Magnificent achievements indeed ! This past 11 year period will certainly have to be reckoned by historians of the future as India’s “finest hour” heralding a golden era in the life of the nation. Anand Ranganathan’s one glaring omission of India’s achievements in the last 11 years is the great stridesContinue reading “With the 11-Year “Narendra Modi Report Card” of Anand Ranganathan, I concur and say, “This was India’s Finest Hour”!”
My suggestion to FM Nirmala Sitharaman-ji for her 2026 Budget “Sixer” : Inflation-indexed tax-bracket for individuals
I wonder how the above American individual income tax-brackets compare with those of what we currently have in India on a like-to-like basis without complicating them too much with notions of Fx rate, inflation differentials and per-capita GDP. The interesting point to note however to note from the above Infograph is the inflation adjustments beingContinue reading “My suggestion to FM Nirmala Sitharaman-ji for her 2026 Budget “Sixer” : Inflation-indexed tax-bracket for individuals”
India and the “sick men of Europe”
https://www.ft.com/content/24d5d526-b970-4e53-a262-9a678319ce23?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1f4iYveiDk2f4y0qUqx2zLN3Y-ifaZmkJ3b_AyasslcsoRyVKdlAcawbM_aem_cfO_7bAc56d_I9pBHi1jPg Reading the FT London article reminded me about how once upon a time, in the 1980-90s Turkey and then more recently in 2009-12, Greece too, were both regarded as the “sick man of Europe”. Today Europe or the EU appears to well qualify for that epithet of UN-eminence : “sick man of the world”.Continue reading “India and the “sick men of Europe””
India’s Democracy is prosthetic not orthopaedic … Why ?
Winston Churchill, WW-II British Prime Minister, made this famous pronouncement on government and democracy : ‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of GovernmentContinue reading “India’s Democracy is prosthetic not orthopaedic … Why ?”