Modinomics is in trouble

India's GDP growth rate has fallen for five straight quarters

 

When a naturally fiery orator like Narendra Modi turns to something as dull as PowerPoint to explain himself, you know he has a problem. That’s what Mr. Modi did recently in an hourlong address to an institute for company secretaries, amid growing doubts about the Indian prime minister’s vaunted skills as an economic administrator.

Mr. Modi’s performance was characteristically confident, but also oddly bristly. He attacked critics who “take pleasure in spreading pessimism” as forcefully as he defended his government’s economic record. Drawing from the Mahabharata, Mr. Modi likened naysayers to a character known for constantly running