Broader empirical evidence suggests that democracy is more supportive of economic growth, though one hears arguments that authoritarianism pays off through economic growth
Land and labour reforms are important, so one can’t fault successive governments for trying to tackle these. But, the binding constraints on the growth of industry in India seem to lie elsewhere
India must learn from the IPL example—states need to create business development clusters where support from govt, industry and academia can be concentrated
Instead of funding incubators, the government may do better by making sure that high-quality digital infrastructure is available for everyone, along with general promotion of ease of doing business
December 21, 2020: The Centre needs to redesign the public procurement and distribution system to broaden the range of crops, including more high-value-added and less water-intensive crops
Policymakers must focus on simultaneously managing the exchange rate and domestic inflation while maintaining an open capital account for renewed economic growth
Farmers are being asked to accept possibly significant new income risks, without any alternative risk management policies, in exchange for an untested promise of higher, but likely riskier, incomes
How quickly the nation’s leadership learns from these past six months and changes its approach will be vital for managing the pandemic and achieving economic recovery
An overarching theme of the 2020 NEP is to reimagine education as learning and broad mental development, getting away from rote learning and test preparation.
India does not seem to have a clear pathway out of this pandemic. Much of this can be attributed to over-centralisation and over-concentration of decision-making and public funds
Without addressing the problems of MSMEs, India will not be ready for growth. The pandemic is the fourth negative shock that small businesses in India have faced in recent times
The issue is not one of the quality and impact of economic reforms. It is of what the govt is actually planning and accomplishing in its efforts to engineer an economic recovery from the lockdown
Universal testing, accompanied by targeted quarantining, is the best way to allow as many people as possible to quickly and safely resume normal activities
The prime minister has emphasised the costs of not responding adequately to the coronavirus crisis, saying it could otherwise set the country back by decades.
The corona-crisis has begun with a different sort of contagion than the 2008 financial crisis, but its impact on financial systems and economic activity is similar