Best of BS Opinion: Are we repeating the economic mistakes of the past?

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

Have you ever watched a clock run out of battery? The second hand twitches, struggles to move, and then — stuck. Time stops. But in some rare malfunctions, the clock doesn’t just stop — it starts ticking backward. A quiet horror unfolds as time regresses, undoing progress, dragging everything with it into the past. Today’s stories feel eerily similar — policies, economies, and even institutions unwinding as if someone pressed the rewind button on the world itself. 

Take global trade for example. Donald Trump’s proposed reciprocal tariffs, as highlighted by our first editorial today, are a throwback to a world before global trade stability. If implemented, they could upset the WTO framework and disrupt international markets, forcing countries like India to rethink trade alliances. The clock here isn’t just ticking backward slowly— it’s hurtling toward an era of protectionism, barriers, and trade wars we thought were left behind in history books. 

 

Meanwhile, India's fiscal health isn’t faring much better. Our second editorial notes a new study highlighting mounting debt among states, with Punjab and Himachal Pradesh exceeding 40 per cent debt-to-GSDP ratios. Election spending, market interventions, and poor fiscal discipline keep pushing the needle backward. Without urgent reforms, financial stability remains a distant dream. 

And manufacturing, long hailed as India’s economic growth engine, is stalling. As Nitin Desai points out, its share in gross value added (GVA) has shrunk to 14 per cent, lagging behind even Bangladesh. Interventionist policies like the PLI scheme are distorting competition rather than strengthening the sector. Instead, India must shift towards open markets, first-generation entrepreneurs, and innovation-driven industrial policies. 

Furthermore, the Reserve Bank of India’s contradictory stance on monetary policy mirrors the same dysfunction. Rajeswari Sengupta details how, while easing interest rates, it intervenes in the forex market, tightening liquidity and raising borrowing costs. The result? A stifled economy, banks reluctant to lower rates, and dwindling forex reserves. In trying to manipulate time — keeping both inflation and currency depreciation in check — the RBI risks making the economy more fragile, not stronger. 

Even our historical narratives seem to be stuck in the past. Rup Narayan Das reviews India-Indonesia Relations: A Civilisational Partnership, a new book on India-Indonesia relations that not only revisits their cultural and diplomatic ties, but also reminds us how these historical bonds remain underappreciated. As both nations shape the Asian Century, there’s an urgent need to recognise and leverage these partnerships. A rare moment where history’s clock moves forward, not back.