Best of BS Opinion: US' WTO engagement and market regulation debates

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

The United States has taken a cautious but constructive step towards the World Trade Organization by submitting a reform memorandum and clearing its dues for 2024 and 2025. Under Donald Trump, this signals continued engagement despite deep scepticism about multilateral trade across US administrations. As our first editorial notes, the memo reflects shared concerns over self-designated developing status and opaque subsidies, especially in China’s case, while also pushing unilateral fixes that risk weakening core WTO principles and hurting smaller economies. 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Internship Scheme aimed to place millions of young people in firms, but pilot results reveal a design problem rather than weak awareness, highlights our second editorial. Acceptance rates fell even as company participation and outreach rose, pointing to issues of duration, role mismatch, relocation costs and modest stipends. Most damaging is the absence of a credible employment pathway in a stressed job market, reflected in sharply underused budget allocations and the need for a careful reset. 

Ajay Tyagi argues that the Securities Markets Code, 2025 Bill weakens Sebi’s independence by capping its spending and diverting surplus funds to the Consolidated Fund of India. He argues that the fees meant to ensure autonomy would become routine government revenue, inviting governance risks and pressure on the regulator. With capital markets evolving quickly and fiscal gains minimal, he contends any surplus transfer should be exceptional and board-led, warning that statutory controls could erode credibility at home and abroad. 

And Rama Bijapurkar challenges the ‘stale’ debate on whether India’s consumption is healthy, arguing that multiple realities coexist across income levels, regions and age groups. Aggregate demand has grown steadily, but businesses must decide where to compete rather than hunt for single drivers. She urges granular analysis of income flows, self-employment and work patterns, and spending priorities, replacing binary mass-versus-class arguments with sharper, localised understanding that can guide strategy and forecasting for firms and policymakers alike. 

Finally, Ambi Parameswaran reviews Click Here by Alex Schultz and finds a timely return to marketing basics amid digital change. The book revisits segmentation, targeting and measurement, while addressing modern tools such as retargeting, experimentation and search strategy. Schultz warns against metric obsession and stresses organisational capability, creativity and accountability. The closing sections on AI reinforce a consistent message: clear goals and strong products matter more than channels, trends or technology in modern marketing practice today. 

Stay tuned!