Page 8 - T N Ninan

Popular leaders and patchy economic legacies: Can Modi buck the trend?

The last three PMs who served full terms started out in their early 70s. Mr Modi is younger and fitter. Now he needs to find it in him to change course if he is to beat economic odds, writes T N Ninan

Will India's growth potential slip below rates achieved in 1980s and '90s?

The forces causing the growth slowdown and rising inequality were there before Covid-19, and these trends are now getting accentuated, writes T N Ninan

More hospitals, fewer schools: India's population trends require solutions

There will be more people in the north, but wealth will be in the south: good governance can manage such rifts, write T N Ninan

The market as weapon: What China has long exploited India has rarely used

Opening up India's market to neighbouring countries can be as strategic as access denial to others. The game should be played both ways, even if it upsets domestic business lobbies, writes T N Ninan

Rollback time: What didn't work for govts earlier will not work even now

Long discarded policies like deficit monetisation, loan restructuring, higher tariffs and import licensing had not yielded great results even the first time around, points out T N Ninan

It is not enough to have a strong govt; you need a strong country

While the govt has done many things right, it has also made mistakes that have weakened India. It should acknowledge challenges, reverse economic slide, and build national cohesion, writes T N Ninan

Follow the money: Why parties are at pains to deny states to rivals

Much of the money to be milked from the govt system for political use is at the state level, not central. What's more, the same money can be denied to the Opposition, writes T N Ninan

Fiscal realities: Why govt cannot respond to Covid-19 crisis more fully

The problem is on both revenue and expenditure sides - the former is shrinking in relation to GDP, and the latter is rising despite a sharp drop in petroleum-related subsidy bills - writes T N Ninan

The seductiveness of borders: They have a habit of becoming sacrosanct

India has existed as a cultural entity from pre-historic times, but most people are not conversant with how and when the nation-state took shape, writes T N Ninan

Jobs as memory: Don't invite new anarchies on top of that wrought by Covid

Will people buy as many cars as before? How much office space becomes surplus as office-goers work from home? How will that impact construction? T N Ninan raises some questions the future invites

Why can't Congress recognise the realities and offer realistic solutions?

Rahul Gandhi's two recent video performances offer little hope - the first fell flat in attacking govt 'strategy'; and the second showed him in a position unbecoming of a leader - writes T N Ninan

Coronavirus pandemic: The strengths and weaknesses this crisis lays bare

While the PM has led from the front and states have deftly helped the affected, our poor healthcare infra and stretched fiscal situation have exposed some chinks in India's armour, writes T N Ninan

Covid-19 outreach and Modi's second big experiment in social mobilisation

After his successful experiment with cooking gas subsidy, the PM's second such exercise - the call for a 'janata curfew' - could be precursor to more ambitious follow-through steps, writes T N Ninan

Schools for scandal: No silver-bullet solution for India's financial sector

The cure might lie in things like improving market intelligence, responding to early signals, improving efficacy of prosecution, and understanding structures and inter-dependence, writes T N Ninan

Fast trains at slow speed: Why railway privatisation should not be hasty

The experience with 50 stations and 150 trains should be a learning experience, helping frame sensible rules that are not unfair to new operators and also don't attract criticism, writes T N Ninan

Beyond green shoots: How to ensure speed and quality of economic recovery

Unless key issues are addressed, even if growth bounces back from the sub-5 per cent, it will stay lower than the already inadequate long-term average of 6.6%, writes T N Ninan

Look back in anger: Why aren't economists setting down roots in India now?

The economic refugees of earlier years have been replaced by well-placed people leaving (or staying away from) India's unattractive political economy, writes T N Ninan

Economic Survey should deal not just with 'Whats' & 'Whys' but also 'Hows'

Survey lessons like exports' importance for growth and jobs, how govt intervention in markets can be harmful, and wealth creation via privatisation should have been imbibed long ago, writes T N Ninan

Budgetary over-reach: There is a price for trying to do too much in Budgets

The larger economy suffers more than the central govt, as New Delhi is allowed to get away with behaving arbitrarily and then hiding the reality behind bogus numbers, writes T N Ninan

A lesson to learn: Economic problems can have counter-intuitive solutions

From drug price ceiling to additional duties on steel imports and export ban to counter onion shortage - govt response to several problems shows the lessons may not have been learnt, writes T N Ninan