Debashis Basu
 "Debashis Basu")
Debashis Basu
Debashis Basu is a Chartered Accountant by qualification with three decades of experience as a journalist and the author of several business books. He has worked with The Times of India, Business World, Business India, Business Today, Financial Express and has written columns for Business Standard and The Economic Times. He now writes a column for Business Standard every alternate Monday. Along with Sucheta Dalal, he has co-authored two best-selling books, "The Scam: From Harshad Mehta to Ketan Parekh" and "Absolute Power: Inside story of the National Stock Exchange’s amazing success, leading to hubris, regulatory capture and algo scam".
Debashis Basu is a Chartered Accountant by qualification with three decades of experience as a journalist and the author of several business books. He has worked with The Times of India, Business World, Business India, Business Today, Financial Express and has written columns for Business Standard and The Economic Times. He now writes a column for Business Standard every alternate Monday. Along with Sucheta Dalal, he has co-authored two best-selling books, "The Scam: From Harshad Mehta to Ketan Parekh" and "Absolute Power: Inside story of the National Stock Exchange’s amazing success, leading to hubris, regulatory capture and algo scam".
Page 7 - Debashis Basu
Much ado about nothing: What India's ease of biz ranking won't tell you
The WB's suspension of the Index will deal a minor blow to the Indian government because the credibility of the rankings, which the government was trumpeting, is now in tatters
 "Much ado about nothing: What India's ease of biz ranking won't tell you")
PSBs: First accurate data and transparency
The RBI had for years refused to share bank inspection reports on grounds that it held them in a fiduciary capacity, and activists fought all the way to the Supreme Court
FDI shift from China? A joke
The orchestra is building up to a crescendo
Four fallouts of Covid-19 mishandling
A disruption in supply chain, no cash flow, non-availability of labour, and the fall in purchasing power will break many businesses
What kind of bear market is this?
Are the markets overreacting? On Friday, the Indian markets were locked in the lower circuit on opening and leading to a mandatory halt in trading for 45 minutes
 "What kind of bear market is this?")
Weak economy is host to coronavirus attack
Set against the virus scare and a global market crash, the latest economic numbers presents a scary scenario, especially since the December quarter in a given year is one of the strongest.
 "Weak economy is host to coronavirus attack")
Ease of living, in a punitive state
Under this government, slogans, memes, catchphrases, alliterative coinages, and clever abbreviations abound. One of them being repeated ad nauseam is ease of living
How to fix the PMC Bank crisis
What we need is a simple principle to be applied here: All deposit-taking organisations should come under the sole supervision of the RBI
 "How to fix the PMC Bank crisis")
Tax cuts: Knee-jerk or part of a plan?
Like fans of filmstars or cricketers, investors have shown abiding faith in Mr Modi, who is still seen as a doer with the right intent and strong will
 "Tax cuts: Knee-jerk or part of a plan?")
External benchmark: Right step, wrong tool
While politicians and businessmen don't see eye to eye on anything during a slowdown, the one thing they all agree on is that cutting interest rates would spur growth
 "External benchmark: Right step, wrong tool")
Big bank theory
The track record of this government has given us enough reason to be sceptical about another experiment with merging PSBs
 "Big bank theory")
Modi's second innings: The one thing
What can a top political performer like Mr Modi do to make his regime an extraordinary economic success as well?
 "Modi's second innings: The one thing")
Achche din? Not with the state as a doer
A year after the Modi government started announcing various schemes, thinker and writer Arun Shourie described the government as "UPA (United Progressive Alliance, led by the Congress) plus cow"
 "Achche din? Not with the state as a doer")
IBC resolution: Towards the inevitable
The successful implementation of the IBC depended on a much bigger involvement of the state through a huge new superstructure of registration, certification and supervision
 "IBC resolution: Towards the inevitable")
FMPs: Lessons for investors, MFs & Sebi
What are the lessons? It is that the regulator, the fund houses and investors should go back to the first principles
 "FMPs: Lessons for investors, MFs & Sebi")
PSBs get money while RBI, MoF get away. Again
Even as hundreds of billion rupees of public money are being pumped into the same corrupt and inefficient system to keep it alive, 25% of the people in this country live in abject poverty
 "PSBs get money while RBI, MoF get away. Again")
Lobbying against external benchmark begins
The RBI claims to strike a balance between banks and consumers, but usually bats for banks
 "Lobbying against external benchmark begins")
Expediency & cronyism win. Again
In quick succession the "harsh" PCA framework was suspended, MSMEs got a relief package and there are plans to transfer a huge amount of money from the RBI's reserves for some pre-election scheme
 "Expediency & cronyism win. Again")
RBI's sudden love for floating-rate borrowers
Every publication has cheered this without a hint of the enormous irony - that the regulator had allowed banks to fleece floating-rate borrowers for two decades with useless tweaks to enable it
Beyond private vs public: The first principles
The IL&FS imbroglio will put the ideologues on both the right and left in an odd position. After a financial debacle involving public ownership, the right is quick to blame ownership as the reason
 "Beyond private vs public: The first principles")
