Category Archives: Economy
National Food Security Act: Universalisation Vs Targeted Approach
With the government at loggerheads with the National Advisory Council and civil society groups on the question of a universal vs targeted approach to the proposed food security Act, Sachin Kumar Jain presents the case against the targeted approach in a country that provides subsidies and exemptions of Rs 418,000 crore to industry while constantly […]
Strong Agriculture Output To Support GDP Growth
The country’s economic growth is expected to remain strong despite sluggishness in the manufacturing sector as a rebound in agricultural output is expected to support overall growth. Growth in the key farm sector, which accounts for nearly 17% of the nation’s GDP, has been a concern for policymakers for the past few quarters. But, healthy monsoon has […]
3 New Indices To Ensure Relevance To Realities
In an effort to ensure relevance to emerging realities and to cast important light on challenges that persist, three new indices were introduced in 2010 in the UNDP’s Human Development Report. The three indices introduced in 2010 measurement are the Inequality-adjusted HDI, gender inequality index and multi-dimensional poverty index. Speaking at the occasion, UNDP’s resident […]
Pranab Sees A Return To Over 9% GDP Soon
With India showing a fast turnaround from the economic slowdown, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee now wants India to achieve 10 per cent GDP growth in the next two years.
Economic Geography Matters
The recent controversy with regard to computation of the GDP raises some issues. Is GDP always the appropriate indicator to measure the economic activity of a country or a region? Why is it important for us to have a geographical perspective on this aggregate measure of economic activity? Economic activity clearly is much more intense […]
Structural change and inequality
One important indicator of the effectiveness of economic policy is the manner in which it alters the basic socioeconomic structure of a country. Some 20 years after many of the economies of the world changed track — moving away from an active economic role for states towards liberalisation and globalisation — there is evidence that […]
India’s Poor human development
AS A major driver of world growth, India’s record on human development is very disappointing. The fastest growing economy of the world after China ranked a poor 119 on the United Nations Development Programme’s latest Human Development Index of 169 countries, trailing behind even countries with modest growth, in indicators such as education, health and […]
The haves, the have-nots and the dreamless dead
In 2007, when the world was on the brink of financial crisis, U.S. income inequality hit its highest mark since 1928, just before the Great Depression. Economists are only beginning to study the parallels between the 1920s and the most recent decade to try to understand why both periods ended in financial disaster. Their early […]
Towards a mixed economy
Fri Sep 24 2010, the Indian Express Economic reform begins in earnest. Some of the unemployed will be offered new government jobs, including in the police and tourism. But hundreds of thousands will be expected to fend for themselves. To help them, self-employment is to be legalised in dozens of areas, from transport to construction. The […]
India’s surprising economic miracle
Tuesday 5 October ’10. The Indian Express The country’s state may be weak, but its private companies are strong. The Indian government recognises the need to tackle the infrastructure crisis, and is getting better at persuading private firms to stump up the capital. But the process is slow and infected with corruption.