Best of BS Opinion: US Supreme Court tariff judgement limits Trump's power

From the US Supreme Court's ruling on Trump's tariffs to India's AI ambitions and the paradox in small-cap stocks, here are the key takeaways from today's Opinion page

Hello, and welcome to Best of BS Opinion, our daily wrap of the Opinion page.  The US Supreme Court may have struck down President Donald Trump's tariffs, but our first editorial maintains that they remain central to his agenda, given his conviction they can address multiple economic and strategic goals. While he may continue to look for ways to impose tariffs, some of the earlier leverage he had in striking deals has been dented. Meanwhile, India, which is on the verge of signing a trade deal with the US, has also stitched other trade alliances and instituted some reforms towards making domestic industry more competitive. Those efforts need to be continued to integrate it fully into global supply chains and tap new opportunities.   The New Delhi Declaration from the recent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit 2026, reflecting the principle of “Sarvajan Hitaya, Sarvajan Sukhaya”(Welfare for all, Happiness of all) reflects India’s emergence as a convenor between the Global North’s technological edge and the Global South’s aspirations for inclusion and capacity building, notes our second editorial. It also brought with it sizeable commitments to investment in the ballpark of $250 billion. Notwithstanding, there remain ethical and legal challenges in AI models. These must be addressed through domestic regulation, as well as global accountability. Policy must enable the development and adoption of responsible AI at scale, while positioning India to drive AI-led change as a means to fulfil aspirations.  The Supreme Court of the United States has often failed to rein in President Donald Trump, but its recent decision to hand down a 6-3 judgement against his tariffs is a startling move. This, writes Mihir S Sharma, is a critical reminder of how checks and balances, including judicial ones, might still work against the worst impulses of a populist leader, and serve as a example for other courts worldwide faced with a similar dilemma. The institutional strength of modern democracies can also reassert itself on occasion, and serve as a reminder that populist leaders may not always be able to bend the establishment to their will.  Debashis Basu addresses the paradox in Indian equity markets: large companies are struggling on the business side but stock prices remain solid, while small firms that are doing well are seeing their stocks languish. The writer predicts that there may now be some outperformance by quality small-caps even as large-caps continue to stagnate. He points out that contrary to conventional wisdom —  that smaller companies do worse under economic stress because larger ones have more resources to withstand headwinds — smaller companies have performed very well. Sales growth of the Nifty Microcap index in the December quarter was 12 per cent, operating profit growth was 13 per cent, and net profit growth was 24 per cent. The best-performing group was the Nifty Smallcap 250, which recorded sales growth of 11 per cent, strong operating profit growth of 22 per cent, and a stunning net profit growth of 38 per cent. Improving fundamentals of quality small caps combined with falling stock prices make for an interesting combination.  Economists' ability to use the language of their chosen subject make convoluted phenomena appear as orderly, rule-bound systems, magically conforming to the logic of supply and demand can appear seductive, writes Nick Summers in his review of three new books that apply a similar lens to subjects as diverse as individual behaviour, war, and nature. At least one book is a chastening pushback against Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler's 'nudge' theory of behaviour. Another neatly categorises organised violence and conflict into economic models. The third, by Cambridge University Emeritus Professor Partha Dasgupta, should be mandatory reading for policymakers, but the author's use of jargon makes it all but unapproachable.