|
Disempowering
the People |
Dec
23rd 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
aim of all fascistic governments is to disempower
the people; and the Modi government is no exception.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS) which promised one member in every
rural household a maximum of 100 days of employment
per year was a demand-driven scheme.
|
|
The
Crisis of Liberalism |
Nov
18th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Trump's
victory in the US Presidential election conforms to
a pattern presently observable across the world, namely
a collapse of the liberal centre and a growth in support
either for the Left, or for the extreme Right, the
neo-fascists, in situations in which the Left is absent
or weak.
|
|
The
Kazan Summit of BRICS |
Nov
11th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
Kazan summit of the BRICS countries was a historic
one for several reasons: first, it created a new category
called “partner nations” as a step towards full membership,
and accepted 13 such new “partner” countries, among
whom were Cuba and Bolivia.
|
|
Household
Debt Stress: Fear in the "good times" |
Oct
1st 2024. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
Growing concern about defaults on unsecured retail
loans reflects not just fear about the health of the
banking system as a whole, but about the impact that
such defaults could have on macroeconomic performance.
|
|
The
Bizarre State of Western Democracy |
Sep
9th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
During
the entire post-war period when it has been in existence
in the metropolitan countries, democracy has never
been in as bizarre a state as it is today. Democracy
is supposed to mean the pursuit of policies that are
in conformity with the wishes of the electorate.
|
|
The
Criminality of Unilateral Sanctions |
Sep
2nd 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
During
Modi’s visit to Ukraine (why he visited Ukraine at
all at the present time remains a mystery), Zelensky
asked India not to purchase fuel from Russia in violation
of western sanctions, that is, to fall in line with
the “unilateral” western sanctions.
|
|
The
Ecommerce U-turn |
Sep
1st 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Recently
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge quipped that
the 'U' in UPS (Unified Pension Scheme) stands for
U-Turn. While that may be seen as stretching interpretative
liberty, he was touching a raw nerve.
|
|
The
Transient "Miracles" |
Aug
26th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
A
Good deal of analysis of the recent political upheaval
in Bangladesh has focussed on the high-handedness
and authoritarianism of Sheikh Hasina's government;
it has either missed altogether, or generally underplayed,
the change that has occurred in the economic situation
in that country.
|
|
From
Protests and Suspensions to Noam Chomsky: The decline
of South Asian University |
Aug
22nd 2024, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
latest controversy in the South Asian University,
over an interview with a philosopher mentioned in
a student's research proposal that resulted in severe
backlash and eventual resignation of an eminent foreign
professor, would appear to be ludicrous if it were
not so tragic.
|
|
Politics
over the Purse |
Aug
20th 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
India's
quasi-federal democracy, which was in danger of collapsing
into a centralised authoritarianism, seems to be holding
up.
|
|
Lessons
from Bangladesh's Uprising |
Aug
14th 2024, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
popular insurrection that ousted Bangladeshi Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League government
offers important lessons for the international community
and neighboring India.
|
|
The
Function of Neoliberal Budgets |
Aug
5th 2023, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
With
the short-term, frenzied interest that accompanies
annual budget presentations in India having ended,
it is time to raise issues that were largely ignored
in the debate.
|
|
Budget
2024-25: A frightening obduracy |
Jul
29th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
There
is massive unemployment in the country that especially
afflicts the youth; there is a huge and persistent
inflation in food prices; there is acute and unprecedented
rural distress; there is a crisis in the petty production
sector; and income and wealth inequality has reached
levels where the whole world is talking about it.
|
|
India's
Development Prospects |
Jul
22nd 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
In
the search for the next country that would transit
from backward to advanced nation status, India’s name
sometimes features. This is partly because the idea
has been mooted by Prime Minister Narender Modi, who
promises to make India a ‘developed nation’ by 2047.
|
|
Halting
the March of Fascism in Europe |
Jul
15th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
coming to power of governments led by fascists is
either a reality or a threat today over large parts
of the world. In Europe at present there are several
countries where fascists are leading governments;
France was on the verge of being added to this list,
in which case it would have been the second major
European power, after Italy, to have a fascist government.
|
|
India's
Balance of Payments: On borrowed time? |
Jul
9th 2024, C. P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Figures
on India's balance of payments in financial year 2023-24,
recently released by the Reserve Bank of India, have
added to the hype on India's growth story.
|
|
The
NPF Programme goes beyond Neo-liberalism |
Jul
8th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
For
the French elections which Emmanuel Macron has called
in the wake of the impressive showing by the Far-Right
in the European parliamentary polls, four parties
on the Left, the Communists, the Socialists, the Greens,
and France Unbowed (of Jean-Luc Melenchon), have come
together to form a New Popular Front to take on the
fascist challenge of Marine Le Pen.
|
|
How
did Agricultural output Change under the Modi Government? |
Jun
25th 2024. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The problems in agriculture have been reflected in
slow growth of agricultural output in the years since
2011-12. Within this, the performance of particular
crops and particular states may provide some insights
into why cultivators have been upset with the Modi
government.
|
|
Economic
Policy after the Elections |
Jun
25th 2024, C. P. Chandrasekhar |
|
The
election results, which gave both the BJP and the
NDA far lower seats than they had in the previous
parliament and led to a coalition government, surprised
many. But now, attention has shifted to assessing
what that would do to the behaviour and policies in
different spheres of this version of a Modi-led government.
|
|
New
Hope for India’s Democracy |
Jun
11th 2024, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's inability to secure
a parliamentary majority in India's general election
has shattered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aura
of invincibility. Modi will now have to rely on coalition
partners to pass legislation, potentially curbing
his efforts to consolidate power.
|
|
What
the Indian Election Result means for Europe |
Jun
10th 2024, Jayati Ghosh |
|
Against
all odds, in the elections to India’s parliament,
whose results were announced last week, the opposition
I.N.D.I.A. alliance managed to prevent the rampaging
ruling party, Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), from securing a majority on its own.
|
|
What
is to be Done about Unemployment? |
Jun
10th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
A
Distinction is drawn in economics between demand-constrained
systems and resource-constrained systems (which for
simplicity and symmetry we shall call supply-constrained
systems).
|
|
Election
Results 2024: Economic justice has to come back on the
policy agenda |
Jun
4th 2024, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections have come
as a shock to those who had mistakenly believed in
the problematic exit polls, which continued the narrative
so assiduously cultivated by the previous Modi government.
|
|
Chicanery
versus Humanity |
May
20th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
current protests in US university campuses demanding
"divestment" from firms linked to Israel's
military machine, are reminiscent of the protests
that had swept these campuses in the late sixties
and early seventies demanding an end to the Vietnam
war.
|
|
The
Crisis of Liberalism |
May
13th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Each
strand of political praxis is informed by a political
philosophy which analyses the world around us, especially,
in modern times, its economic characteristics. On
the basis of this analysis, the particular political
philosophy sets out the objectives which have to be
struggled for, and the political praxis informed by
it carries out this struggle.
|
|
The
True Face of "Aid" |
Apr
16th 2024. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
A spike in Overseas Development Assistance flows from
OECD members is not a departure from a long history
of ODA levels that have fallen far short of a 1970
promise. It is a revelation of what "aid"
really is.
|
|
Recent
Structural Change in the Indian Economy |
Apr
4th 2024. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The India Employment Report points to worrying tendencies
in terms of structural change in the Indian economy,
especially in recent years.
|
|
In
the Name of the South: India's aggressive economic diplomacy |
Mar
26th 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
India's
government has since the year of its G20 Presidency
claimed to have restored the country's role as the
'Voice of the South' in global dialogues. That is
often backed up by reference to its efforts to focus
attention on the problem of debt stress and default
in poor developing countries, and to the induction
of the African Union into the G20.
|
|
Federal
Fracture: A nation in crisis |
Feb
22nd 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Indian
federalism is on the verge of breakdown. Ministers
from opposition-ruled States have taken to the streets
in New Delhi to protest against discrimination by
the Centre.
|
|
The
Budget and the Inversion of Reason |
Feb
12th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
BJP government holds that truth is what Modi says;
if evidence points otherwise then evidence must be
wrong and should be suppressed. Modi says that India
never had it so good as during the last decade of
his government; but since official statistics contradict
him, the statistics must be wrong and the statistical
system must be changed.
|
|
Distress
and Displacement in Times of War |
Feb
9th 2024, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Recruitment
drives held over the last week of January, in Lucknow
in Uttar Pradesh and Rohtak in Haryana, for Indian
workers to undertake construction and caregiver jobs
in Israel have captured global attention.
|
|
The
Question of Pensions |
Jan
15th 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
We
observe a strange phenomenon everyday, so strange
that its strangeness goes generally unnoticed. Government
spokespersons from the prime minister downwards go
on repeating ad nauseam that India is the most rapidly
growing major economy in the world today, that it
will soon become a 5 trillion dollar economy, and
that it has overtaken China in terms of the growth
rate of the gross domestic product.
|
|
An
Education Policy for Colonising Minds |
Jan
1st 2024, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Imperialist
hegemony over the third world is exercised not just
through arms and economic might but also through the
hegemony of ideas, by making the victims see the world
the way imperialism wants them to see it.
|
|
The
Vacuity of the Free Trade Argument |
Dec
25th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Imagine
a country that is exposed to relatively unrestricted
trade. There are two obvious problems that it can
face because of this trade policy: the first is a
balance of payments problem because its exports are
insufficient relative to its imports.
|
|
The
Pervasiveness of Poverty in India |
Nov
27th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
One
of the striking findings of the Bihar Caste Survey,
which bears out what the Left has been asserting for
a long time, is that absolute poverty in the country
is far more pervasive than what successive governments
in India have been claiming.
|
|
The
Growing Crisis of Unemployment |
Nov
13th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
In
an economy like ours where the work-force is not neatly
divided into "the employed" and "the
unemployed", and instead there is massive and
growing casualisation of work, measuring unemployment
is a tricky business.
|
|
Fascistic
Hostility to Evidence |
Oct
30th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
All
fascistic outfits have one common characteristic:
they reject outright all evidence that goes against
the narrative they spin; and the Hindutva elements
in power in India are no exception.
|
|
When
Numbers are Treated as Political Weapons |
Oct
19th 2023, Jayati Ghosh |
|
India
has a robust and admired statistical system. But the
government is suppressing data to suit its narrative.
It is perilous not to know the reality of the governed.
|
|
Globalised
Capital and National Leadership |
Oct
9th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
One
of the most intriguing questions at present is why
Europe's political leadership has become complicit
in what appear to be US efforts at undermining European
economies.
|
|
Destroying
Forests for Profits |
Oct
2nd 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
Modi government, ever solicitous of corporate interests,
has launched a plan whereby real estate developers
and other corporates will be allowed to destroy large
swathes of India’s forest cover for starting projects
that rake in profits.
|
|
The
Silences of the Delhi Declaration |
Sep
18th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
G-20 meeting in Delhi was occurring in the midst of
an acute economic crisis of the world economy. The
advanced capitalist economies are expected by the
IMF to witness a growth slowdown from 2.7 per cent
in 2022 to 1.3 per cent in 2023.
|
|
Believing
One's Own False Theories |
Sep
11th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Liberal
bourgeois writers tend to explain the problems that
arise under capitalism not by the immanent tendencies
of the system but by the capriciousness of particular
governments.
|
|
Behind
BRICS Expansion |
Sep
4th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
At
the Johannesburg summit of the BRICS countries, it
was decided to expand the group beyond its original
five, namely, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa, to include six more countries. These are:
Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates.
|
|
The
Destruction of Universities |
Aug
28th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
When
BJP rule in the country is dead and gone, a good deal
of the damage it has caused to the Indian society,
polity and economy will no doubt be reversed. But
there are at least two areas where such reversal will
be difficult.
|
|
The
IMF Bias: Signals from Pakistan |
Aug
11th 2023, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
On
July 14 this year, the shaky government of a debt-stressed
Pakistan, won itself a surprising reprieve. The country
had experienced a collapse in foreign reserves to
less than one month worth of imports and was on the
verge of defaulting on its external debt of more than
$120 billion.
|
|
The
Problem with "Universal Basic Income" |
Aug
6th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Many
economists have been advocating a universal basic
income for India, an idea that was mooted even in
the official Economic Survey for 2016-17.
|
|
The
Poverty of UN Poverty Estimates |
Jul
31st 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
On
April 3 this year, the minister of state for planning,
Rao Inderjeet Singh, said in the Rajya Sabha that
the government had no data after 2011-12 for estimating
poverty, and therefore had no idea how many people
had been lifted out of poverty since then.
|
|
Addressing
Default: Lessons from an opaque experience |
Jul
11th 2023. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The decision to allow banks to settle with willful
defaulters and fraudsters reveals the actual stance
of the government on ‘rescuing’ corporate debtors.
The hype around the IBC conceals that.
|
|
Is
What We have "Crony Capitalism"? |
Jul
10th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Fascistic
elements exist in every modern society, but usually
as fringe, marginal or minor elements. They move centre-stage
only when they get the support of monopoly capital
which provides them with ample money and media coverage;
and this happens when there is a capitalist crisis
that substantially increases unemployment.
|
|
The
Implications of Dollar Hegemony |
Jun
26th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
How
exactly is the dollar’s status as reserve currency
related to imperialism? This question has two parts:
how this status of the dollar is related to U.S. imperialism,
and how it is related to the overall imperialist arrangement.
|
|
On
the FDI Route to Manufacturing Success |
Jun
13th 2023. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
In its efforts to boost India's underdeveloped manufacturing
sector, the government has been emphasising the role
of foreign direct investment. But the strategy is
not working.
|
|
The
Q4 GDP Estimates for 2022-23 |
Jun
12th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
estimates of India's Gross Domestic Product for the
fourth quarter of 2023 were released on May 31. These
show a growth rate of 6.1 per cent over the fourth
quarter of the previous year, which is higher than
the 4.4 per cent growth that the October-December
quarter had recorded over the corresponding quarter
of the previous year.
|
|
The
Grim Unemployment Scenario |
May
8th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
data on unemployment brough out by the Centre for
Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE) present a grim
picture. Not only has the unemployment rate increased
sharply for some years now, starting from even before
the pandemic, but the figure which had shot up during
the pandemic has not come down much despite the recovery
that has occurred in the level of GDP from its trough.
|
|
Whatever
happened at the Spring Meetings? |
May
4th 2023, C. P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Ministers,
central bankers, officials and civil society activists
returning home from Washington after the Spring Meetings
of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
held in April 2023 were not clear as to what the outcomes
of the meetings, however minor, were.
|
|
The
Potential of Tax Reform in Latin America |
May
2nd 2023. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
Recent changes in some Latin American tax regimes,
especially in Colombia, provide useful pointers for
taxation strategies in other developing countries.
|
|
Threats
to the Hegemony of the Dollar |
May
1st 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Janet
Yellen, the US treasury secretary, has finally acknowledged
what has been obvious to most people for quite some
time, namely that the imposition of sanctions against
countries that the US is hostile to, runs the risk
of jeopardising the hegemony of the dollar as the
world’s reserve currency.
|
|
The
Current State of India's Economy |
Apr
24th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Government
officials never tire of repeating that India is currently
the fastest growing major economy in the world. What
they never mention is the fact that India had witnessed
perhaps the sharpest absolute drop in GDP among the
major economies of the world in 2020-21.
|
|
The
Rubber Farmers' Woes |
Apr
10th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Rubber
prices, which had recovered a little after the fall
during the pandemic, have collapsed again, with the
farmers in Kerala, which grows 80 per cent of the
country's rubber crop, being badly hit.
|
|
The
"Hindu Rate of Growth": Then and now |
Mar
20th2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
For
a large part of the dirigiste period, the gross domestic
product of the Indian economy grew at a rate of around
4 per cent per annum or less, which, though an improvement
compared to the colonial era that had witnessed virtual
stagnation, was not very impressive.
|
|
Analysing
the Adani Debacle |
Mar
6th2023, Sunanda Sen |
|
It
comes close to a fairytale as one starts narrating
the meteoric rise and fall of the Adani Group in terms
of its changing fortunes or valuations in the market.
|
|
Treating
Infrastructure as a Holy Cow |
Mar
6th2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
There is an impression shared by even progressive
intellectuals that the entity that goes by the name
of “physical infrastructure” is an absolute necessity
in each country, and that the actual amount of infrastructure
that exists is always less than what is needed.
|
|
Can
Investments be Free of Risk? |
Feb
22nd 2023, Jayati Ghosh and Anand Srinivasan |
|
Recently, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court
put forth the idea of setting up an expert committee
that could recommend ways to protect common investors
from market events.
|
|
The
Crisis of India's Oligarchy |
Feb
22nd 2023, Jayati Ghosh |
|
Over the past two decades, Indian multi-billionaire
Gautam Adani's close ties to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi have helped the Gujarati businessman become Asia's
wealthiest person.
|
|
Pakistan's
Debt Crisis: No resolution in sight |
Feb
21st 2023. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The IMF cannot resolve Pakistan's debt crisis, though
it is influencing policy on the grounds that it can.
|
|
Finance
Minister's Misleading Statement |
Feb
20th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
A strike on the Adani group by short-seller the U.S.-based
Hindenburg Research has led to the unravelling of
the Gautam Adani story, which celebrated the spectacular
rise, in an extremely short period of time, of the
wealth of a man and his business empire.
|
|
The
Adani Story and Indian Neoliberalism |
Feb
15th 2023, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
A strike on the Adani group by short-seller the U.S.-based
Hindenburg Research has led to the unravelling of
the Gautam Adani story, which celebrated the spectacular
rise, in an extremely short period of time, of the
wealth of a man and his business empire.
|
|
"Crony
Capitalism" As an Economic Strategy |
Feb
13th 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Gautam Adani's calling Hindenburg's allegations of
fraud against him an attack on the Indian nation is
a matter of particular significance. Just before this
episode, the BBC documentary on Modi had been labelled
a product of the colonial mindset by the government
and hence also construed to be an attack on the Indian
nation.
|
|
The
Abuse of the Concept of "Populism" |
Jan
23rd 2023, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
All regimes based on class antagonism require a discourse
to legitimise class oppression and this discourse
in turn requires a vocabulary of its own. The neoliberal
regime too has developed its own discourse and vocabulary
and a key concept in this vocabulary is "populism".
|
|
Davos
Man Must Pay |
Jan
18th 2023, Jayati Ghosh |
|
To mitigate the worst effects of climate change and
prevent societal breakdown, we must shift to renewable
energies and reduce extreme inequality. But doing
so would require massive increases in public spending,
which is why governments must overhaul their outdated
and regressive tax systems.
|
|
The
Real Failure at Sharm El-Sheikh |
Dec
13th 2022, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
As COP27, the climate summit at Sharm el-Sheikh in
Egypt, ended after a being prolonged, assessments
of what it achieved were mixed. But the overwhelming
sense was that the summit had yielded little, since
on most counts it had not gone beyond the pledges
agreed to at COP26 held in Glasgow last year and incorporated
in the Glasgow Climate Pact.
|
|
The
Triumph of the City? |
Nov
7th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The triumph of the City of London, the one square
kilometre next to Liverpool Street station that houses
the citadel of British finance, is complete. Not only
did it get rid of one British prime minister, whom
it distrusted, in the space of just 44 days, but even
got a new one of its choice installed forthwith.
|
|
Whatever
Happened to Liz Truss? |
Oct
31st 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The most intriguing question with regard to Liz Truss’
resignation as the prime minister of Britain after
a mere 44 days in office is this: what is it about
her economic programme that the ''market'' (read ''finance
capital'') found unpalatable? At its core after all
was tax-cuts for the rich, which the ''market'' should
have lapped up.
|
|
The
New Threat on the Foreign Exchange Front |
Oct
3rd 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
On September 23, the value of the rupee vis-à-vis
the dollar fell to a new low: it crossed 81 to a dollar
after some weeks of relative stability when it hovered
between 79 and 80. And it fell despite the Reserve
Bank's running down of foreign exchange reserves in
a bid to hold up its value.
|
|
Europe's
Economic Hara-Kiri |
Sep
26th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The cessation of natural gas supplies from Russia
to Europe in retaliation against Western sanctions
imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine war, is threatening
Europe not only with a winter with inadequate heating
that will take a big toll in terms of lives among
poor people, but also with large-scale closures of
enterprises; such closures would push up the unemployment
rate, and significantly increase poverty and destitution
among the workers.
|
|
On
Loan apps and Crypto Criminals |
Aug
31st 2022, C. P. Chandrasekhar |
|
India's enforcement directorate, still preoccupied
with unearthing corruption and money laundering among
opposition politicians, has decided to turn its attention
to those involved in the crypto business in the country
as well.
|
|
The
Modi Government and the So-Called "Freebies" |
Aug
29th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
A Bizarre drama is unfolding in front of our eyes.
The Modi government which has been giving away hundreds
of thousands of crores of rupees as tax concessions
to the monopolists has expressed its opposition ironically
to what it calls "freebies", that is to
handing over subsidies to other segments of the population.
|
|
Will
the GST Regime Fail? |
Aug
23rd 2022. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
At the end of the five-year period in which states
were being compensated for shortfalls in GST revenues
relative to targets, they are on the verge of a fiscal
crisis. That could spell the end of the GST regime.
|
|
Sanctions
and the Decline of the Dollar |
Aug
22nd 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The hegemony of the US dollar was based on the fact
that the world's wealth-holders considered it to be
"as good as gold", even when it was no longer
officially convertible to gold at a fixed rate, as
it had been under the Bretton Woods system, after
the collapse of that system.
|
|
"Heads
I Win, Tails You Lose" |
Jun
20th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The craftiness of imperialism is boundless. In several
countries of the world at present there are neo-fascist
governments, propped up by their respective big bourgeoisies
(all aligned to globalized capital), and implementing
neo-liberal policies with their characteristic ruthlessness;
in many other countries there are neo-fascist outfits
attempting to get into power by promising to their
big bourgeois patrons that they would do the same
if in power.
|
|
The
Indian Economy is Heading for a Stationary State |
Jun
13th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Adam Smith and David Ricardo had been haunted by the
idea of capitalism ending up in a "stationary
state", by which they meant a stable state of
zero growth. Marx used the term "simple reproduction"
to describe such a state, where there is no net addition
to production capacity and the economy just reproduces
itself at the same level period after period.
|
|
Misreading
FDI Numbers |
May
31st 2022. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The government's celebration of record levels of FDI
inflows in 2021-22 as indication of the strength of
the Indian economy misreads the numbers that point
to several underlying weaknesses in India's external
account.
|
|
Tendency
towards the Emergence of an “International” Middle Class |
May
30th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The chancellor of the exchequer of Britain, whose
official residence is only next door to the British
prime minister's, is Rishi Sunak, a person of Indian
origin. Britain's home secretary is Priti Patel, also
of Indian origin.
|
|
Roots
of the Sri Lankan Debt Trap |
May
3rd 2022. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
Having embraced neoliberal reform in the late 1970s,
Sri Lanka had privileged access to large borrowing
from the IMF and private financial markets. Exploiting
that privilege has proved to be a poison pill.
|
|
A
World Economy in Disarray |
May
2nd 2022, C. P. Chandrasekhar |
|
When the world's financial leaders met mid-April at
Washington for the annual spring meetings of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the mood was one
of gloom.
|
|
Reflections
on the Sri Lankan Economic Crisis |
May
2nd 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
So much has been written on the Sri Lankan economic
crisis that the facts are by now quite well-known
(see for instance C P Chandrasekhar, Frontline April
22): the massive build-up of external debt; the huge
Value Added Tax concessions that pushed up the fiscal
deficit and made the government borrow abroad even
to spend domestically;
|
|
Panic
about Petrol Prices |
Apr
19th 2022. C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
Governments of rich countries are the ones showing
the greatest panic in responding to rising global
oil prices, but the relative price of petrol is already
much higher is low and middle income countries with
bigger poor populations.
|
|
The
Hike in Petrol Prices |
Apr
4th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
In the five days ending March 26, petrol and diesel
prices in the country had been hiked four times, with
more such daily hikes in the offing. On each occasion
the hike had been by 80 paise per litre, so that the
total increase during the week had been Rs 3.20 per
litre, bringing the price per litre of petrol to Rs
98.61 and of diesel to Rs 89.87 in the capital city,
Delhi.
|
|
The
IMF Connection with the Ukraine Crisis |
Mar
7th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The IMF, it follows, has changed dramatically since
its foundation. When it began at Bretton Woods in
1944, it was part of an international system based
on the pursuit of a dirigiste economic agenda.
|
|
Imperialism
as an Abiding Phenomenon |
Feb
28th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Neocolonialism was a good fit for the 1950s and 1960s.
The word "imperialism" is no longer applicable
because recent years have been marked by peaceful
discussions between countries rather than coercion
by some over others.
|
|
Co-lending:
Towards recolonising the peasantry |
Jan
10th 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The SBI-Adani deal is a way of changing the pattern
of land use in agriculture by channelling government
institutional credit through the domestic corporate-financial
oligarchy. Such nationalised banks-NBFC deals are
aimed at achieving what the farm laws could not achieve;
these must be vehemently opposed.
|
|
Yet
Another Contradiction of Capitalism |
Jan
3rd 2022, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Keynes believed that mass unemployment under capitalism
could be prevented through state intervention; but
even in the US, the ability of the State to stimulate
domestic economic activity has become constrained.
This is a new basic contradiction that has emerged
in world capitalism and deserves serious attention.
|
|
The
Strangulation of the MGNREGS |
Dec
6th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
No matter how government spending is financed, a rupee
of government expenditure is better spent on the MGNREGS
than on any other expenditure item. The Modi government
alas is too blind to see this.
|
|
The
Peasantry's Victory over Imperialism |
Nov
29th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The significance of the kisan movement extends beyond
the immediate context. It obviously is a climbdown
by the Modi government in the face of the incredible
resoluteness shown by the agitating peasants. At another
level it has been a setback for the neoliberal agenda
that the farm laws were seeking to promote.
|
|
Peasants
and the Revolution |
Oct
4th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
There have been significant developments in Marxist
theory regarding the revolutionary role of peasantry
in the transcendence of capitalism. The peasant struggle
in India too is not an ordinary one; it compels the
government to openly declare who it stands with -
the people or international big business.
|
|
The
Unravelling of the Modi Arrangement |
Sep
20th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Liberal commentators related Modi's rise with the
ascendency of Hindutva. However, Modi rose to power
through this ascendency as the person who cemented
the corporate-Hindutva alliance, meditating between
corporate capital and the RSS. Modi is an intermediary
used by the Indian big bourgeoisie to bring about
this alliance.
|
|
Everything
for Sale |
Sep
13th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Everywhere in the world, public assets that provide
basic services to the people, are virtually free,
but no longer in India. Behind this bizarre Indian
exceptionalism is the Modi government's peculiar agenda
to turn everything into a commodity. Nothing is sacrosanct,
nothing is hallowed, nothing transcends the market;
everything is for sale.
|
|
Neo-liberalism
and Nationhood |
Aug
30th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The anti-colonial nationalism that informed the struggle
for liberation in third world countries was of an
entirely different genre from the bourgeois nationalism
of seventeenth century Europe. However, there is a
tendency in the West to treat all "nationalism"
as a homogeneous and reactionary category.
|
|
Equality
and Scarcity |
Aug
9th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Long queues of consumers in socialist economies were
a source of derision in the West and were attributed
to the inefficiency of the socialist system. However,
it was not caused by any inefficiencies; it reflected
the fact that the system was concerned about keeping
down the inequality in income distribution.
|
|
Neo-liberalism
and the Extreme Right |
Jul
19th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
There has been an upsurge of extreme right-wing, fascist
parties worldwide in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s.
Fascist governments invariably serve the interests
of monopoly capital. However the contemporary extreme
right movements eschew any Right-radical rhetoric
from the very beginning, unlike their earlier counterparts.
|
|
The
Long Search for Stability: Financial cooperation to address
global risks in the East Asian region |
Apr
16th 2021. C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
After the 1997 Southeast Asian crisis, the region
recognized the need for a regional financial safety
net independent of the United States and the IMF to
mitigate future crises. The emergence of China as
a regional and global power, with its independence
from the US, improve the prospects for it.
|
|
How
China is Offering an Alternative to the IMF |
Apr
16th 2021, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
The People's Bank of China's network of local currency
swap arrangements provide Asian countries with a much-needed
safety net, while also strengthening China's diplomatic
position.
|
|
Ruling
Classes and Concern for the Poor |
Apr
12th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The pandemic and the associated lockdown meant a drop
in GDP and tax revenue both in the West and in India.
However, there is a world of difference between the
support provided by the two governments. The fiscal
packages need to be examined to discover the scale
of discretionary fiscal support for the poor.
|
|
The
Political Economy of Covid-19 Vaccines |
Mar
6th 2021. Jayati Ghosh |
|
Blatant vaccine grab by rich countries; protection
of patent rights by governments in advanced countries
and the use of vaccine distribution to promote 'soft
power' have exposed and intensified global inequalities;
but a pandemic can be overcome only when it is overcome
everywhere.
|
|
Biden's
Rescue Package |
Feb
1st 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Even before taking office, US President Joe Biden
announced a rescue package that involves transfers
to the working people and shall be financed by taxing
the rich. This is in sharp contrast to the Modi government's
callous policy vis-à-vis the people.
|
|
The
Corporate-Hindutva Alliance and the Peasants |
Jan
18th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The agricultural bills impose a shift on farmers from
food to cash crops that would destroy the public distribution
system, but that is not what the Indian farmers or
even consumers desire at present. We are witnessing
a bizarre situation of the government versus people,
instead of the usual people versus people.
|
|
Engels
on the Peasant War in Germany |
Jan
18th 2021, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
At a time when the Indian peasants are engaged in
a valiant and peaceful struggle for the repeal of
the Central government's three agricultural laws,
it is important to recall Friedrich Engels' study
of the peasant war in Germany in 1525.
|
|
Countering
the Corporate-hindutva Narrative on the Nation |
Dec
21st 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The kisan agitation in no longer simply a fight for
MSP or against the corporatization of agriculture,
it is a movement against the hegemonic narrative promoted
under the neo-liberal Modi government.
|
|
A
Strike against the Discourse of Unreason |
Nov
30th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The November 26 strike is significant not only because
it protests against the Modi government's brazen attacks
on workers and peasants in the country, that carry
forward an imperialist agenda, but also because it
dissents against the anti-democratic and anti-secular
nature of the Hindutva forces.
|
|
Immiserization
behind the Recovery |
Nov
23rd 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Ministers as well as the Reserve Bank of India have
seen signs of recovery in the Indian economy, but
there, of course, had to be a recovery from the deep
abyss to which the lockdown had pushed the economy,
as some degree of normalcy returned; it is no reflection
of any virtue of the government.
|
|
Discrimination
and Bias in Economics, and Emerging Responses |
Nov
19th 2020. Jayati Ghosh |
|
Jayati Ghosh discusses the forms of discrimination
and bias that are rampant in economics and enlists
some networks that are challenging the rigidities
and power structures within the mainstream discipline.
|
|
Capitalism
and Inheritance |
Nov
9th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
It is often believed that the ability to pass on property
to one's progeny is an essential element of capitalism,
without which the capitalists' incentives will dry
up and the system will lose its dynamism and nothing
could be further from the truth.
|
|
One
Hundred Years of Indian Communism |
Oct
19th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Prabhat Patnaik discusses the proletariat's relationship
with different segments of the bourgeoisie and the
peasantry and the Communist Party's tactics towards
other political forces, over the last one hundred
years of the existence of communism in India.
|
|
The
Move towards a de Facto Unitary State |
Oct
5th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Federalism is one of the basic features of the Indian
Constitution, but the tendency of the Centre to encroach
on the domain of the states has intensified to such
an extent under the Hindutva forces and the corporate-financial
oligarchy, that the country is being pushed towards
a de facto unitary State.
|
|
Modi's
Agriculture Bills Push Imperialist Agenda |
Sep
28th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The two bills rammed through parliament last week
were not only anti-democratic in nature, but also
exploitative. It leaves millions of peasants at the
mercy of private buyers by opening them up to monopsonistic
exploitation.
|
|
The
Protracted Crisis of Capitalism |
Aug
31st 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The current crisis in capitalism is not because of
the pandemic, but due to the operation of neoliberalism
that increased the share of economic surplus in output
by keeping the real wage rates unchanged, even while
labour productivity increased. The existence of an
over-production crisis predating the pandemic has
only made things worse.
|
|
An
Elementary Misconception about the Hindu Rashtra |
Aug
24th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The Hindu Rastra, that the BJP wants to achieve, will
eventually be an authoritarian State, suppressing
Hindus and Muslims alike and eventually subjecting
them to unprecendented levels of exploitation by international
finance capital and domestic corporate-financial oligarchy.
|
|
The
Hindrance to a New Deal Today |
Jul
14th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
A New Deal attempted by any State today through larger
fiscal deficit of taxing the rich will run the risk
of capital flight and hence financial crisis. Such
an effective opposition by global finance will require
a mobilized working class to overcome.
|
|
A
Tale of Two Countries |
Jul
13th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The contrast in responses to the BLM movement in the
U.S. and the anti-CAA anti-NRC protests in India has
to do with the fact that the “educated bourgeoisie”
in the U.S. has been more punctilious in playing a
democratic role than its Indian counterparts.
|
|
The
World at Crossroads |
Jun
2nd 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The dead-end of neoliberalism, which is visible to
even bourgeois thinkers in the metropolis now, is
invisible to the Modi government still on the authoritarian-fascist
track. Even the revival of post-war "welfare
capitalism" will require a struggle by the working
class.
|
|
A
Dangerous Courses |
May
11th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
While state governments are expected to meet all the
Covid-related expenditure, they have not even been
given their legally mandated GST compensation. This
centralizing tendency of the BJP govt harms not just
the states but the federal consciousness of India.
|
|
The
End of Globalization |
May
8th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Globalised finance was known to increase inequality
and create economic volatility. The pandemic has shown
that it can even make crucial state intervention impossible
in a major crisis. People everywhere have a choice
of submitting to its hegemony or striving for a new
class equilibrium.
|
|
Finance's
Preference for the Metropolis |
May
4th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Globalized finance, by nature, prevent welfare spending
by third world governments and enforces their subservience
vis-a-vis advanced economies. Delinking from current
globalization therefore tantamount to freedom from
hegemony of finance capital.
|
|
New
FDI Norms in Time of COVID – Good Economics or Geopolitics? |
May
4th 2020, Sunanda Sen |
|
There is ample evidences to suggest that Chinese investments
in India have been a help to employment rather than
to casino finance. Hence, new FDI norms which corner
China do not qualify as good economics in crisis time.
|
|
Pandemic
and Socialism |
Apr
1st 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
To face of a pandemic created by globalization under
the aegis of capitalism, most countries are taking
a socialist turn. Global economic and humanitarian
crises like these suggest an end-game for the free-market
system.
|
|
Oil
Shock Reversed |
Mar
30 2020, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
In a dramatic post-Coronavirus-pandemic turn, the
agreement between OPEC and some non-OPEC oil exporters
has collapsed, causing global demand-supply imbalances
and depressed prices. Back home Indian governments’
response of raising excise duty on fuel might intensify
the recession.
|
|
The
Uses of "Populism" |
Mar
2nd 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The term "populism" which was used by the
Left to refer to a perspective that saw the "people"
as undifferentiated in class terms, has been transformed.
It now is used as a concept that underplays the viciousness
of Right-wing supremacism.
|
|
Capitalism,
Socialism and Over-production |
Feb
17th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Over-production under capitalism occurs because of
speculative investments and the multiplier effect
that follows. As both these factors are eliminated
under socialism, Soviet Union, with all its defects,
never experienced unemployment.
|
|
Layers
within the Corporate-financial Oligarchy |
Feb
3rd 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Fascist regimes are based on solid support of monopoly
capital and the contradictions within it. It is no
surprise that even in the midst of crisis, Modi government’s
only concern is corporate gains through massive tax
cuts.
|
|
JG
Interview with Sampath- The Hindu |
Jan
7th 2020. |
|
In an interview with The Hindu, Jayati Ghosh talks
about her life experiences, her views about global
economic slowdown and the role of fiscal deficit in
resolving demand scarcity, and the importance of JNU
within a system of crony capitalism.
|
|
Demand-constrained
versus Supply-constrained Systems |
Jan
5th 2020, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Unemployment and food shortage that plague the neo-liberal
economies of today are indeed effects of a demand-constrained
system. Essentially characterised by underutilized
capacity, capitalism can never have a shortage of
finance, which is artificially imposed by international
finance capital.
|
|
India's
Rank on the Global Hunger Index |
Oct
28th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
"Global
Hunger Index 2019 unambiguously concludes that India
ranks lowest among all South Asian countries and that
there has been an alarming increase in child "wasting".
The government's callous approach to this has its
roots in the institutionalized inequality of the Indian
caste system."
|
|
A
Counter-productive Measure |
Oct
9th 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
Modi government's "fiscal stimulus" in the
form of corporate tax cut is likely to aggravate the
economic crisis. What needs to be done is the opposite:
an increase in government welfare expenditure financed
by taxing the rich.
|
|
RCEP:
A dangerous drift |
Sep
25th 2019, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Staying
out of the RCEP is the best option for India. While
damaging for some sectors, the terms would preclude
measures required to raise India's export competitiveness.
|
|
The
Destruction of Fiscal Federalism |
Sep
17th 2019, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
unprecedented additions to the terms of reference
for the 15th Finance Commission continue the Modi
government's attempts at fiscal centralisation and
denial of resources to states.
|
|
The
15th Finance Commission and Defence Expenditure |
Sep
2nd 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Changing
the terms of reference of the finance commission so
as to make the states pay for defence and internal
security is unconstitutional and will squeeze the
state governments.
|
|
Some
Comments about Marx’s Epistemology |
Aug
30th, 2019, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Marx
saw the necessary incompatibility between capitalism
and human freedom: a contradiction that is becoming
all too evident today.
|
|
Article
370 and Kashmir's Land Reformss |
Aug
19th 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Instead
of being an obstacle to "development" as
argued by Amit Shah, Article 370 has enabled J&K
to be among the states with lowest rural-poverty-ratio
and among the best performing states in a whole range
of other social indicators.
|
|
The
Roots of Economic Pessimism |
Aug
16th, 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Growth
optimism about the Indian economy and the post-election
speculative boom in the stock market are reversing
because the perceptions on which they were built are
now proving wrong.
|
|
Amit
Shah's Economics |
Aug
13th 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Ending
Kashmir's special status and repealing Article 35
A will not lead to "development" or increase
in employment; instead, more crime associated with
land speculation and rising terrorism will make prospects
bleaker.
|
|
The
Indian Economy is Blaring Warnings, but the Modi Government
Remains in Denial |
Aug
9th 2019, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
While
the government was busy celebrating cosmetic measures
like 'ease of doing business' ranking, the real economy
tanked.
|
|
A
Striking Contrast |
Aug
8th 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Karnataka
is the latest instance of the commoditization of politics
in India. This can only change with pressure from
the masses based on genuinely alternative politics.
|
|
A
False Theory |
Aug
2nd, 2019, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
argument made by votaries of finance capital, that
government borrowing crowds out private investment,
is analytically false and driven only by ideology.
|
|
India's
withering Public Employment |
Jul
30th 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
Government's strategy of leaving public employment
posts vacant to save on the potential wage bill is
deeply irresponsible and unjust.
|
|
Fifty
Years after Bank Nationalization |
Jul
22nd 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Nationalised
banks' NPAs arise not because of their "irresponsible"
lending practices but because of changed government
policies. |
|
The
Exploitation Time Bomb |
Jul
18th 2019, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The self-reinforcing pattern of high profits, low
investment, and rising inequality poses a threat not
only to economic growth, but also to democracy, argues
Jayati Ghosh.
|
|
The
Current Eclipse of the Left |
Jul
11th, 2019, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Prabhat
Patnaik explains the reasons for the declining strength
of the Left in India and suggests what the Left should
do to revive itself.
|
|
The
Debate over Inequlity |
Jul
8th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Prabhat Patnaik points out that while the debate over
inequality has become hotter elsewhere in the world,
in India, there is very little noise about it despite
a massive rise in inequality after economic liberalisation.
|
|
Modi's
Electoral Triumph |
Jun
4th 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Indians
have voted for Modi the concept, not the man. Prabhat
Patnaik shows how the myth of Modi has been manufactured
to fulfil people's needs, even as their lived reality
worsens.
|
|
The
Global Shift to the Right |
Jun
3rd 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Prabhat
Patnaik argues that no matter how politically successful
across the world the Right is today, it is incapable
of leading people out of the current state of crisis
and unemployment.
|
|
An
Ominous Tendency |
May
27th 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
A
militaristic concept of nationalism that sees any
questioning of the armed forces as "anti-national",
is fundamentally anti-democratic. Prabhat Patnaik
shows that it is far removed from the anti-colonial
nationalism that founded independent India, with its
emphasis on democracy and people's sovereignty.
|
|
The
Gathering Storm Clouds of Recession |
May
27th, 2019, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Prabhat
Patnaik argues that industrial recession in India
is inevitable under neo-liberalism - and it is likely
to worsen because neoliberalism makes finding resources
for fiscal expansion difficult.
|
|
Warning
Signs from External Trade |
May
21st 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh points out that
India's rising gold imports are primarily responsible
for its growing trade deficit; so far no action has
been taken by the Modi government to prevent these
unnecessary imports.
|
|
The
Significance of the Transfer Schemes |
Apr
29th 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Prabhat
Patnaik explains that the transfer schemes being mooted
by the congress and the BJP are indicative of the
crisis of neoliberal capitalism, with evidence that
whatever the level of growth under the regime, the
poor are unlikely to benefit. But neoliberalism also
prevents the mobilisation of resources to finance
such schemes, deepening the crisis.
|
|
The
Political Economy of the Modi Regime |
Apr
2nd 2019, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
C.P.
Chandrasekhar argues that the five years of the Modi-led
NDA regime was characterised not just by the consolidation
and advance of Hindutva forces but a growing nexus
between the state and big capital that intensified
the depredations of neoliberal capitalism, camouflaged
by diversionary measures like demonetisation.
|
|
The
Modi Years |
Apr
2nd 2019, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Prabhat
Patnaik argues that rolling back of fascification
of our society requires much more than the defeat
of the Hindutva forces in the coming elections; it
requires above all a programme that provides relief
to the people from the depredations of neo-liberal
capitalism.
|
|
Social
Responsibility of Intellectuals in Building Counter-Hegemonies |
Feb
4th 2019, Issa Shivji |
|
In a period of upsurge of fascism, narrow nationalism
and parochialism, Issa Shivji calls for the social
responsibility of intellectuals to construct a counter-hegemonic
project that would resonate with the lives of the
vast majority.
|
|
The
Boundaries of Welfare |
Feb
4th 2019, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Interim
budget indicates that the government's electoral strategy
is to win over the 'intermediate classes' while ignoring
the poor. |
|
The
Motivated Murder of India's Statistical System |
Jan
31st 2019, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Government's
suppression of all the relevant statistics is harming
citizens, economy and the government itself.
|
|
The
Strange form of "Disinvestment" |
Jan
30th, 2019, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Under
the NDA government disinvestment is increasingly turning
out to be a process in which surpluses are wrung out
of PSEs or government linked institutions to support
the budget, instead of the usual route of sale to
private buyers. Apart from adversely affecting the
modernization and expansion plans of PSEs, this change
in the nature of disinvestment does not enable the
government to raise its expenditure to the desired
levels in a pre-election year.
|
|
Some
'Reservations' on the Modi Government's Reservation for
'Economically Weaker Sections' |
Jan
25th 2019, Surajit
Mazumdar |
|
The
Modi government's move to provide reservation for
'economically weaker sections' is a naked attempt
to fortify its electoral prospects by creating an
upper caste consolidation. This measure is largely
for propaganda purposes and has little benefits to
offer to anyone given the Modi government's poor record
even on public employment.
|
|
The
furore over farm debt |
Jan
4th 2019, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Agrarian
crisis is a direct result of the neo-liberal fiscal
regime, which advocates tax incentives for finance,
the corporate sector, and the rich in general, and
tight control over government borrowing; all this
has resulted in long-term neglect of agriculture.
Now the measures to provide relief to farmers are
being opposed by neo-liberal advocates on the grounds
that it will violate fiscal prudence and yet not resolve
the problem created by neo liberal fiscal regime in
the first place.
|
|
Criticism
and Criticism |
Dec
28th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
Modi government's demonetization move has been universally
criticized, but there are significant differences
between a neoliberal critique focused on the impact
on GDP and the Left's assessment that looks at the
impact on people.
|
|
The
Modi government, the RBI governor and the mess that is
the Indian economy |
Dec
11 th 2018, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
resignation of Urjit Patel from the governorship of
RBI raises questions about what could have possibly
caused such a drastic step. While the tussle between
the central bank and the government provides an immediate
context, there is a need to look at the depth of the
mess that the Indian economy finds itself in.
|
|
Contemporary
Capitalism and the World of Work |
Dec
4th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Imperialism
remains essential to capitalism in all its phases, although
its instruments may change from one phase of capitalism
to another. When we incorporate imperialism in the Marx's
analysis of the dynamics of capitalism, we resolve the
puzzle of fall in per capita annual total (both direct
and indirect) cereal consumption despite rise in per
capita real income. It is because of rise in world poverty
along with rise in per capita real incomes. |
|
On
taking Sides in the RBI-government Stand-off |
Nov
27th 2018, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
The
government has crossed the red line in recent times,
influenced in part by the mess its policies have created
and substantially by the need to win voter support in
the impending elections. This clearly is an area where
the RBIs willingness to stand up to the government's
demands needs appreciation, But these gestures should
not be treated as a spat in which the RBI is free of
blame and only the government is remiss. The central
bank too needs to shed its biased neoliberal perspective
and admit to responsibility for its past acts of commission
and omission that have also contributed to the current
mess in the economy. |
|
Vilifying
the Intelligentsia |
Nov
26th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Government's
debunking of intellectuals who are not with them amounts
in effect to running down all intellectuals: all intellectuals
are perceived by them to be actual or potential threats
in varying degrees. In short they oppose the very activity
of intellection. |
|
Who
Should Control India’s Central Bank? |
Nov
15th 2018, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
standoff between India's government and the Reserve
Bank of India isn't problematic because of the risk
of infringing on central-bank independence. It is problematic
because, rather than fighting to protect the public
interest, the government's goal is to revive irresponsible
bank lending, protect its cronies, and win votes. |
|
A
Heart-rending Episode |
Nov
14th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
Bengal famine of 1943 in which 3 million persons died
was the direct result of the escalation of British war
expenditure on the eastern front. Such massive loss
of life could have been avoided if the manner of financing
war expenditure had been different. The war expenditure
on the eastern front was financed by a "profit
inflation" generating "forced savings".
Financing war expenditure this way imposed a heavy burden,
especially on the poor people of rural Bengal who were
net food purchasers. The forced reduction in consumption
they had to undergo, entailed a drastic reduction in
their foodgrain intake, and hence the famine. |
|
The
Modi Government's Spat with the RBI |
Nov
12th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
Modi government's spat with the RBI is rooted in the
structural characteristic of neo-liberalism. This entire
debate has arisen as a fall-out of neo-liberalism, of
the contradictions that inevitably arise in a neo-liberal
economy between the compulsion on the part of the government
to please international finance and its need to win
elections. Expenditures have to be stepped up for the
latter, while international finance disapproves of such
stepping up. |
|
Emergency
2.0 |
Aug
30th 2018, Jayati Ghosh |
|
Given
the background of failure of the ruling party to fulfil
any of its important electoral promises, the recent
arrests of lawyers, scholars and human right activists
represent the desperate measures by the ruling party
to stifle, suppress, and divert all voices of criticism,
opposition and dissent. |
|
Finance
versus the People |
Aug
27th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
There
is a fundamental contradiction between democracy and
neo-liberal capitalism. This contradiction can be seen
from the exuberance of the market with the removal of
a challenge to communal authoritarianism. |
|
Ranking
Universities |
Aug
6th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Ranking
universities amounts to detaching them from their social
contexts and hence denies the social role of education. |
|
Crop
Insurance: Another dressed up scheme |
Aug
2nd 2018, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Pradhan
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) launched in 2016 which
is supplemented with Restructured Weather Based Crop
Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS), have failed to deliver what
it had promised. The number of farmers insured under
this scheme has fallen and the claims paid to farmers
has fallen from 98% to 61%. The scheme seems to be benefitting
the insurance companies as there has been rise in gross
premiums paid to these companies by government. |
|
Empty
Promises |
Jul
18th 2018, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Together
with measures like loan write-offs offered by some BJP
States and an ostensibly much-improved crop insurance
scheme (PMFBY), this hike in MSPs is seen to have confirmed
the pro-farmer tilt of the Narendra Modi government.
The timing of the Modi government's MSP hike for kharif
crops leads to the question of whether it is backed
by the financial allocations needed to deliver on them. |
|
Why
didn't Socialism have Over-production Crises? |
Jul
2nd 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
period after 2008 has witnessed prolonged overproduction
crisis which was not seen in the old socialist economies.
A market driven capitalist economy that has its foundations
on the principle of antagonism is the source of this
glut. |
|
Trump
Versus the Rest |
Jun
18th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Donald
Trump's protectionist stance at the G-7 summit is an
example of how disunited capitalist countries are on
a possible solution to the capitalist crisis. Because
of the position of the US economy, Trump can afford
to hold on to his protectionist policies while enlarging
the fiscal deficit. What is wrong about this strategy
is the possibility of long term repercussions, not just
for America but for the capitalist world as a whole. |
|
A
Tale of Two Discourses |
Apr
19th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
Hindutva bubble has clearly burst. Mass demonstrations
by peasants, traders, doctors, teachers, students and
even school children in the past few days have shown
that not only the fear gripping the people is over but
also the Indian political discourse is shifting towards
material-practical matters, again acquiring a resemblance
to what it had been in the pre-Modi years. |
|
Commoditization
and the Public Sphere |
Apr
2nd 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
distinction between the sphere of market and the sphere
of public discourse remains central to liberalism. But
under capitalism, the public sphere becomes untenable
due its "spontaneous" destruction by the markets’
immanent tendency towards commoditization, as we are
witnessing everywhere today. In such a world, a fight
towards democracy is itself a means of advancing the
struggle for socialism. |
|
Trump's
Protectionism |
Mar
26th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Trumps'
announcement of tariff hike tantamounts to a beggar-thy-neighbour
policy that would inevitably attract retaliation. But
these current protectionist measures on capital-in-production
do not in any way restrict capital-as-finance. They
are just desperate and counter-productive attempts at
coping with a crisis, which is itself an outcome of
the process of globalization of finance. |
|
The
Importance of Dissatisfaction |
Mar
17th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
first step to overthrowing an oppressive system is "epistemic
exteriority" or visualizing an alternative system
outside of the existing one. But neo-liberal capitalism
has been remarkably successful in thwarting such visualization,
by proposing "epistemic closure" as an essential
component of development. |
|
The
UGC Directive on Autonomous Colleges |
Mar
12th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Higher
education in India is facing a twin danger of commoditization
and communalization under the globalized capital today.
This tendency is fueled further by the UGC directive
that combines commoditization with a push towards centralization
that is rampant under the Modi government. |
|
The
Tripura Election Verdict |
Mar
7th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
Tripura reverse brings out the fact that it is exceedingly
difficult for an opposition party, that has an incumbent
government in any state to withstand the onslaught of
the BJP, and in between states the one anti-BJP opposition
force is different and scattered. For the Left it means
a fight for survival. |
|
The
Destruction of a University |
Feb
28th 2018, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
Jawaharlal Nehru University administration has, in the
past two years, undermined the norms and conventions
that have established it as a premier institution of
higher learning in India. |
|
A
Dangerous Period |
Feb
16th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Contemporary
Fascism around the world is emerging as neo-liberal
capitalism’s “gift” to mankind in the period of its
maturity, when it submerges the world economy in a crisis,
and reaches a dead-end from which there is no obvious
escape. |
|
Arun
Jaitley on Electoral Bonds |
Jan
15th 2018, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Arun
Jaitley had outlined a scheme of electoral bonds in
his budget speech on February 2, 2017. Now, exactly
11 months later, the notification of the scheme and
some details of it have finally been announced in a
Press Information Bureau release on January 2, 2018. |
|
The
Problem with the Indian Left |
Dec
27th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
current problem with the Indian Left, and in this term
I include all sections of the Left, from the so-called
"parliamentary Left" to the so-called "revolutionary
Left", is in my view, its lack of appreciation
of the dialectics between "reform" and "revolution". |
|
The
Obscenity of Hunger Deaths |
Dec
22nd 2017, Jayati Ghosh |
|
There
is no doubt that human life is cheap in India, perhaps
more so now than ever before. The attacks, atrocities
and killings of people from minorities and marginalised
groups that have now become so common are particularly
appalling because they reflect a culture of impunity. |
|
Economic
Recovery or A Statistical Illusion: Some observations
on recent estimates of GDP growth |
Dec
7th 2017, Vikas Rawal |
|
On November
30th, the Central Statistical Office (CSO) came out
with quarterly estimates of GDP for the second quarter
(June to Sep) of 2017. Predictably, analysts and spokespersons
of the government spent the evening in newsrooms of
various TV channels celebrating what they claimed was
a sign of revival of the economy. |
|
Do
Purchasing Power Parity Exchange Rates Mislead on Incomes?
The case of China |
Dec
5th 2017, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The use of exchange rates based on Purchasing Power
Parities (PPPs) to compare incomes across countries
and over time is now standard practice. But this may
lead to excessively inflated incomes for poorer countries
and not capture the real changes over time. |
|
Neo-liberalism
has been a disaster for Nepal |
Nov
20th 2017, An interview with C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Why is
neoliberalism bad for India and Nepal? What are its
major flaws? Mahabir Paudyal and Prashant Lamichhane
from myRepublica caught up with Professor CP Chandrasekhar
when he was in Kathmandu last week to discuss the impact
of neo-liberal economic order in the two countries,
and the prospects of a socialist-oriented economy in
Nepal. |
|
Not
with a Bang but with a (prolonged) Whimper |
Nov
16th 2017, Jayati Ghosh |
|
The German
thinker Wolfgang Streeck in his brilliant book provides
a cogent critique of the nature of contemporary capitalism,
and describes its ongoing extended demise without surrendering
to any optimism that as it fails to deliver even in
terms of its own logic all the injustice it has generated
must inevitably change for the better. |
|
Neo-Liberal
Capitalism and its Crisis |
Oct
24th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Neo-liberal
capitalism is marked by the hegemony of international
finance capital which has many consequences, among which
is the alarming upsurge of fascism, differing markedly
from the fascism of the 1930s. |
|
The
Current Upsurge of Fascism |
Oct
18th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
To describe
the present upsurge of fascism as nationalist or populist
would be misleading. Neither is it a replication of
the fascism of the 1930s. However, it is marked by four
features, which have been common to all fascist upsurges
in the past, namely: rise of supremacism, apotheosis
of unreason, proliferation of fascism as a movement,
and intertwining of fascist movement and corporate capital. |
|
The
Class Content of the Goods and Services Tax |
Oct
5th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
In the
discussions about GST, the class content of this new
tax regime has been missed. Through an overall increase
in the taxation of the informal sector i.e. of the petty
producers and the small capitalists, it has unleashed
the twin process of centralization of political authority
and the centralization of capital, which in turn strengthen
one another. |
|
Winner-take-all
Political Funding |
Sep
28th 2017, Jayati Ghosh |
|
By introducing
the opaque and hugely problematic system of electoral
bonds, the BJP-led government at the Centre has indicated
that it is not really interested in fighting corruption
but only concerned with expanding its hold on power. |
|
The
Epidemic of Vigilantism |
Sep
20th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
In a situation
where the secular political leadership has lost a good
deal of its credibility and "grassroots vigilantism"
is becoming a widespread, veritable epidemic under growing
fascism, the judiciary continues to remain a credible
instrument for the reassertion of the values that the
Constitution associated with a "modern" India. |
|
America's
Turn Towards Fascism and Its Contradictions |
Sep
4th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
While
the turn of the U.S. towards fascism is unmistakable,
the contradictions associated with this turn, and the
complexity of the process of formation of the partnership
between big business and fascist upstarts within the
framework of a non-fascist bourgeois State to start
with, are also clearly visible. |
|
The
Triple Talaq Verdict: Victory in one battle in a much
longer war |
Aug
29th 2017, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
Supreme Court's welcome verdict in the Triple Talaq
case should bring public attention to the problems and
needs of separated and divorced women across all religious
communities in India. |
|
A
Dangerous Analogy |
Aug
24th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Democracy
in India faces a severe threat from the penchant for
centralization and uniformity that the Hindutva forces
have and which Modi articulated in the Central Hall
on July 1 through his misleading analogy between the
GST and the integration of princely states by Vallabhbhai
Patel during Independence. Such comparison puts a tax
reform and democratic revolution on the same platform,
confusing biased centralization with unity of the country. |
|
150
years of 'Das Kapital': How relevant is Marx today? |
Aug
24th 2017, Jayati Ghosh |
|
After
150 years of 'Das Kapital', the seminal work of the
19th century economist still provides a framework for
understanding contemporary capitalism. The unique social
relations such as "free labour" and "commodity
fetishism", that according to Marx, define capital,
are reflected in the uneven and unstable development
of the world market. |
|
On
the Economic Implications of Restrictions on Cow Slaughter |
Jul
11th 2017, Vikas
Rawal |
|
India's
livestock economy is among the biggest in the world.
A ban on cow slaughter would either result in more and
more unproductive animals being killed in most unscientific
and cruel ways or would entail such a high cost for
maintaining unproductive animals that cattle rearing
would cease to be a profitable enterprise for farm households.
Restrictions being imposed on cow slaughter and the
actions of the cow vigilantes would deal a serious blow
to the agrarian economy and in particular to the livelihoods
of the poor and middle peasants in rural India. |
|
Growing
Class Resistance Against "Globalization" |
Jun
19th 2017, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Universal
non-class use of the term “globalisation” and its “other”
“nationalism” by the bourgeoisie has enabled them to
show the former as progressive and latter reactionary
for all classes. But recent election results in major
countries reflect the rise of resistance of the worker
class against the hegemony of "globalised"
finance capital everywhere. Even in India, for the first
time in three decades, anti-labour policies are being
challenged by strong peasant movements in many states. |
|
Why
Workers Lose |
May
30th 2017, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
IMF's push to delink the decline in the share of labour
in national income from the rise of finance, neoliberalism
and globalisation leads to a set of banal prescriptions
on how to deal with a problem that is at the centre
of the crisis of capitalism today. |
|
Public
Bank Privatisation in a Post-truth World |
May
17th 2017, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Narendra
Modi government appears to have decided to privatise
public sector banks (PSBs). Preparations are underway
with arguments being marshalled that "there is
no alternative" to privatisation. |
|
Industrial
Growth and Demonetization |
Apr
24th 2017, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Recent
data on the manufacturing sector dispel all the lies
that government propaganda has been peddling of late
about demonetization having had no recessionary effect. |
|
The
Nefarious Money Bills |
Apr
3rd 2017, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
amendment of the Company Act by the BJP government is
a massive assault on democracy and a legitimisation
of the fusion of corporate and State power, and a license
for big-ticket corruption. |
|
The
Rise and Fall of South Korea's Chaebols |
Mar
15th 2017, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Even
though an alliance between big business and politicians
is threatening the survival of democracy in South Korea,
a near-unprecedented process of penalising corruption
and bribery has begun there because of popular pressure. |
|
Evolution
of India as a Nation |
Mar
6th 2017, Sitaram Yechury |
|
This
piece is the author's deliberations made in the Opening
Session, "The Idea of the Nation" of the day-long
Seminar on "Interpreting the World to Change It",
held on February 11, 2017, in New Delhi to mark the
release of Festschrift for Prabhat Patnaik. |
|
Spreading
Light: Are the Modi government's electricity promises
being fulfilled? |
Jan
31st 2017, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
government's claim that it has ensured electricity for
all does not seem to be warranted by the evidence. |
|
No
Digital Base for a Cashless Economy |
Jan
27th 2017, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
In
the absence of a digital base for a cashless economy,
India's road to a near-cashless economy seems fairly
long and the journey is likely to be slow and tedious. |
|
The
Pursuit of Unreason |
Jan
9th 2017. Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Modi's
demonetization can be compared with Idi Amin's fiat
in 1972 as both are instances of extreme unreason. But
while Amin's was an untenable and extremely inhumane
solution to the problem it addressed, Modi's is a complete
non-solution to the problem it addresses which is also
inhumane, and hence constitutes an even greater act
of unreason.
|
|
The
Dialectics of Authoritarianism |
Dec
26th 2016. Prabhat Patnaik |
|
The
decision to demonetise overnight as much as 86 percent
of the currency of a country which is predominantly
currency-using, is necessarily irrational, undertaken
in the quest of a heroism that is a necessary feature
of an authoritarian regime.
|
|
Understanding
the American Right |
Oct
26th 2016, Jayati Ghosh |
|
One
of the reasons for the solid, intense support that Donald
Trump commands is his complete disdain for political
correctness, which appears exhilarating and liberating
to such people who have felt suppressed for so long. |
|
Developing
"Infrastructure" |
Oct
25th 2016, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
One
can intervene in income distribution in an egalitarian
direction by restraining the investment in infrastructure
that is met at the expense of other socially-pressing
needs and rationing the infrastructure in question. |
|
Managing
the Corporate-Communal Alliance |
Aug
2nd 2016, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
To
keep the corporate-communal alliance going, the recalcitrant
elements on both sides have to be managed carefully
and the alliance must deliver to the partners who constitute
it. |
|
The
Post-1991 Growth Story |
Jul
29th 2016, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Economic
growth post liberalization has been riding on a credit
bubble. Neither has it made the manufacturing or exports
sector robust, nor has delivered any benefits to those
steeped in poverty and deprivation. |
|
25
Years of Economic Reforms: Agriculture |
Jul
27th 2016, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
inability to resolve the pressing concerns with respect
to food production, distribution and availability is
one of the important failures of the entire economic
reform process. |
|
Globalization
and the World’s Working People |
Jul
11th 2016, Prabhat Patnaik |
|
Contrary
to the impression that Globalization would benefit all,
it has actually worsened the conditions of the broad
mass of the working people in both parts of the world. |
|
After
Brexit |
Jul
6th 2016, C.P. Chandrasekhar |
|
Whatever
the long term implications of Brexit are, it could,
in the short run, disrupt world trade, and worsen the
depressed conditions confronting the current world economy. |
|
Broken
Promises to India's Youth |
Jun
10th 2016, Jayati Ghosh |
|
Quite
contrary to its original promise, job creation no longer
seems to be a major policy priority of the Modi government,
which has shown itself to be remarkably anti-youth. |
|
Two
Tales of Contrast |
May
26th 2016, Jayati Ghosh |
|
Among
the terrible legacies of the Modi government’s first
two years, are its double standards, as evidenced by
the recent experiences, which will have negative repercussions. |
|
Societal
Involution in the North |
May
16th 2016, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Recent
social and political trends in the US and in parts of
Europe point to the regressive tendencies that seek
to recreate a past that seems less complicated, but
manages to intensify unhappiness. |
|
Capitalism
and the Oppressed Castes |
Apr
29th 2016, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
development of capitalism in any society brings about
a complete transformation in the way we look at all
social questions including the question of caste oppression.
|
|
Against
the Assault on Thought: A lesson for the Left |
Apr
28th 2016, Rohit
Azad |
|
When
the state cannot hide behind a facade of national performance,
the government looks for an alternative category of
us versus them which is used to divide the people and
rule. |
|
The
State of the Economy |
Apr
8th 2016, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
There
is a remarkable constriction of the size of the domestic
market and stagnation of industrial sector in India
due to inadequate purchasing power in the hands of the
people. |
|
Anti-national
Economics |
Mar
16th 2016, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
author here argues that the policies that go against
the interests of the people are anti-national and NDA's
economic policies are profoundly anti-national in that
sense. |
|
Budget
2016-17: Signs of paralysis |
Mar
16th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
divergence between the rhetoric and the actual allocations
in the Budget 2016-17 depicts the ruling party's inability
to use the fiscal lever to push for growth and welfare.
|
|
Budget
2016-17: Hype is all |
Mar
15th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Behind
all the hype about a pro-poor budget, the actual provisions
of the government for the major social sectors are found
to be too paltry to improve the lives of the poor.
|
|
Why
do we have Unemployment? |
Mar
14th 2016, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Under
neoliberal capitalism, where the level of activity requires
bubbles to sustain itself, the existence of unemployment
must be attributed to the paucity of aggregate demand. |
|
A
Sinister Pattern Underway |
Mar
7th 2016, Aruna
Roy and Nikhil Dey |
|
The
ruling party is doing its best to establish that being
critical of its government is tantamount to being anti-national.
It is time for us to realise that the freedom won so
hard, is under threat unless we collectively protect
our constitutional rights. |
|
The
Battle to Defend the Employment Guarantee Scheme! |
Feb
12th 2016, Smita
Gupta |
|
In
the face of the strong opposition from various sections
of the society, ensuring the proper implementation of
MGNREGA is one struggle that has to be constantly fought. |
|
Privatization:
Any method in this madness? |
Feb
3rd 2016, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
government signals towards winding down the public sector
allowing the private sector to occupy the spaces it
has, for long, avoided. But this predatory exercise
involves large developmental costs. |
|
Growth
through Redistribution |
Jan
21st 2016, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Contrary
to the portrayal by the neoliberal spokesmen, the Left
position does not accept the growth versus redistribution
dichotomy, rather asserts that growth can occur in a
sustained manner through redistributive measures. |
|
MNREGA
under the Modi Regime |
Jan
21st 2016, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
continuous cutting down of the financial outlays for
the programmes like MNREGA clearly indicates the central
government's appalling disregard for its legal obligations. |
|
The
Abolition of the NDC |
Jan
11th 2016, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
abolition of the NDC adds a final touch to the Modi
government's project of centralizing powers and resources,
which is an essential element of the neo-liberal strategy. |
|
The
Heavy Price of Economic Policy Failures |
Jan
7th 2016, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
While
the citizenry pay a heavy price for economic policy
failures, those responsible for the implementation of
this are never blamed and they continue to impose their
power and expertise on economic policies and on governing
institutions. |
|
A
Candid Assessment? |
Jan
6th 2016, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
Finance Ministry's mid-year review talks of positives,
that are more in the nature of disappearing negatives,
but it cannot conceal the fact that there has been little
advance on the development front. |
|
IDBI
Bank: The door to denationalisation |
Jan
4th 2016, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
decision to privatise IDBI Bank is the beginning of
a larger process of denationalisation of banking in
India that would lead to exclusionary banking structure
most unsuited to India's development needs. |
|
What
can Corporate Planning Learn from National Planning |
Dec
29th 2015, Pronab
Sen |
|
This
paper examines the historical development of national
planning in India and identifies the lessons that corporate
planning can draw from the long and varied experience.
|
|
The
Seventh Pay Commission Report |
Dec
14th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
A
drastic squeeze on salary increases and a widening of
disparities within the real emoluments of the central
government employees imposed by the 7th Pay Commission
typically characterizes a neo-liberal regime that must
be resisted. |
|
Capital
Goods Conundrum |
Nov
24th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
While
the Government appears to recognise the importance of
expanding and strengthening India's capital goods industry,
the policy signals it sends seem contrary and confusing. |
|
The
Stench of Counter-Revolution |
Nov
13th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Today
we witness an attempt to change the nature of the Indian
State to a Hindu Rashtra, which is a hallmark of the
counter-revolution and needs to be resisted with all
strength. |
|
The
Slogan of "Make in India" |
Nov
10th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Although
apparently the "Make in India" campaign appears
innocuous, it is actually a dangerous one since the
potential thrust of the campaign is in the direction
of constricting democracy and squeezing the working
people. |
|
The
State as Fiefdom |
Oct
6th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Using
the State machinery for settling personal scores must
qualify as corruption and must be opposed. |
|
Europe's
Refugee "Crisis" |
Sep
30th 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Asylum
seekers do not have an easy time anywhere, but the richer
countries have without question been meaner, more oppressive
and more restrictive in their dealings with them. |
|
The
Retreat of the Emerging Markets |
Sep
16th 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
process of export-led growth strategy that led to declining
wage share and increasing inequalities and environmental
problems has ultimately proved to be unsustainable. |
|
"De-Linking"
and Domestic Reaction |
Sep
7th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
author here highlights the fact that it is not de-linking
from globalization but globalization itself that conduces
to a strengthening of reactionary forces. |
|
The
Debate on GST |
Aug
19th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Transition
to a GST regime involves various issues; of which reduction
in the powers of the states and the regressive nature
of its distributive impact deserve greater attention. |
|
Why
the Fight for a GST? |
Aug
6th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
claims of the government that the transition to a GST
regime would increase revenue mobilisation and raise
GDP growth are based on models that are by no means
robust. |
|
The
Internet in "Digital India" |
Jul
24th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
According
to the latest NSSO data, the proportion of Indian households
in which at least one member had access to the internet
is far short of the near universal connectivity envisaged
by the Digital India mission. |
|
Pachhwara
Coal Mines, Jharkhand: Privatisation of coal mining and
rights of adivasis |
Jul
21st 2015, Vikas
Rawal and Prakash Viplav |
|
Privatisation
of coal mining in Amrapara has facilitated a loot of
national resources and deprived the poor adivasi peasants
of the benefits that rightfully belong to them. |
|
Great
Dream of Prosperity |
Jul
21st 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
emphasis on the latest GDP growth numbers, when the
figures from other indicators point to the opposite,
may be the government’s only option to show that all
is well. |
|
Looking
Back at Debt Relief for the Germans |
Jul
21st 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
In
the current Eurozone attitudes towards Greece, it is
often forgotten that Germany was the major beneficiary
of debt write-offs in the 20th century when Greece was
its creditor. |
|
A
Greek Tragedy that could have been Avoided |
Jul
8th 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
EU's insistence on grinding austerity measures and stubborn
resistance to even consider the option of debt restructuring
forced the Greek people into greater hardship. |
|
The
Destruction of Education |
Jun
26th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
era of globalization of capital brings along a process
of destruction of education, but the intrusion of communal-fascism
into education is an added element in case of India.
|
|
The
Beleaguered Indian Farmer |
Jun
24th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
forecast of a poor monsoon is a real bad news for the
Indian farmers as it would not only reduce crop production
leading to shortages but also encourage speculative
holding. |
|
Economics
and the Two Concepts of Nationalism |
Jun
22nd 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
It
is important to differentiate the kind of nationalism
that informed the anti-colonial struggle in India from
the bourgeois nationalism that had emerged in Europe.
|
|
Skating
on Thin Ice |
Jun
1st 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Indian
economy, under the first year of Modi's rule, has experienced
massive attack on the welfare programmes, sluggish growth
of exports and an increase in the trade deficit. |
|
How
Food was Moved to the Margins of the New Household Budget |
May
29th 2015, Rahul
Goswami |
|
An
enquiry into the private consumption expenditure indicates
that a huge majority of India's population are experiencing
food insecurity in one or several forms. |
|
One
Year of Modi Government: Social sector |
May
27th 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
Modi government's vast and sweeping cuts in essential
social spending will adversely impact the basic conditions
of living and affect the prospects of the aspirational
youth. |
|
The
Economy: The end of euphoria |
May
27th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Despite
having a good fortune of lower international oil prices,
the Modi government failed to deliver growth in its
first year while the expectations are still very high. |
|
Fiscal
Consolidation through Austerity |
May
25th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
government's attempt at fiscal consolidation through
austerity would not only affect growth adversely, but
also has damaging effects on welfare. |
|
Unseen
Workers: Women in Indian agriculture |
Apr
1st 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Although
women play a pivotal role in Indian agriculture, it
is amazing to see how their work goes unnoticed in the
public domain. |
|
The
Modi Government's Economic Strategy |
Mar
19th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
In
its pursuit of pushing ahead with the neoliberal agenda,
the government is willing to adopt measures which, as
evidence suggests, would fail as strategy.
|
|
How
Not to Treat Agriculture |
Mar
19th 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
Union Budget 2015 indicates that the government is going
beyond what could be called benign neglect of agriculture
to policy moves that are likely to harm its viability.
|
|
Budget
2015-16: Bonanza for the corporate |
Mar
9th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Budget
2015 is a major step towards increasing the class power
of capital; it is the true expression of the ideology
of a neo-liberal State without any attempt at a human
face.
|
|
India's
Daughter: Since the Delhi rape things have got worse |
Mar
9th 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
banning of the BBC documentary points to the fact that
the Indian government's real concern is the international
image of the country rather than the safety of women. |
|
Averting
a Greek Tragedy – For Now |
Mar
4th 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
negotiations between the Syriza led Greek government
and the EU is the struggle between the democratic will
of the people and global finance. |
|
Lessons
from the Coal Blocks Auction |
Mar
4th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
outcome of coal block auction suggests that the government
could have stuck to expanding public sector coal production
without handing the mines over to the private sector. |
|
Growth
and Hunger |
Feb
23rd 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
declining foodgrain absorption in India is indicative
of growing hunger- a symptom of deprivation, caused
by the privatisation of services like education and
health. |
|
In
Search of Clean Air |
Feb
20th 2015, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
worsening atmospheric pollution in India threatens the
basic health and well-being of people but sadly, almost
nothing is being done in terms of effective public policy. |
|
The
"Niti Ayog" |
Jan
12th 2015, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
replacement of the Planning Commission by the NITI Ayog
marks a centralisation of economic power in the hands
of the Central Government at the behest of neoliberalism. |
|
Prof.
Bhagwati has Got it Wrong |
Jan
12th 2015, Rohit |
|
Jagadish
Bhagwati's recent pitch for make-in-India is flawed
as it ignores domestic demand and other pitfalls of
an export-oriented growth strategy. |
|
Who's
Really Paying for Oil? |
Jan
7th 2015, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
As
the central government raises excise duties on petroleum
products yet again, it is the poor that end up paying
the price.
|
|
The
RBI Governor’s Unwarranted Remarks |
Jan
2nd 2015,, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Dr.
Rajan’s criticism of the debt-waiver scheme for farmers
underscores the fact that 'social banking" gets
progressively eliminated in the era of neo-liberalism. |
|
Make
in India |
Dec
29th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
new ambitious "Make in India" initiative is
based largely on bluster, bravado and marketing hype
that lacks any clear strategy for proactive trade and
industrial policies. |
|
The
Phenomenal Increase in Wealth Inequality |
Dec
16th 2014, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
recent Global Wealth Report by Credit Suisse shows inequality
growth in India since 2000 has been the highest with
the top one percent controlling 49% of total wealth. |
|
Bad
News in the Good Days |
Dec
16th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
While
the collapse in oil prices and moderation in food price
inflation are good news for the Modi government, there
is a real danger of it turning complacent as a result. |
|
Fiscal
Correction versus Democracy in India |
Dec
12th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
current government's strategy of imposing sweeping cuts
to important areas of public spending without any public
scrutiny and discussion is deeply anti-democratic. |
|
The
Nehru Legacy |
Nov
27th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Although
the Congress is using the Nehruvian tradition to win
political legitimacy, it has actually rejected the essentials
of the Nehruvian economic trajectory. |
|
Turning
Citizens into Mendicants |
Nov
18th 2014, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
shifting of responsibility of sanitation infrastructure
from the state to corporate sector is a breach of the
rights and dignity of the common citizenry.
|
|
India
Concludes Bilateral Agreement with US, Agrees to an Indefinite
‘Peace Clause’ |
Nov
17th 2014, Biswajit
Dhar |
|
By
making a bilateral agreement with the US, India is able
to avert any challenge to its food security programme
for now, but the programme will be under WTO surveillance.
|
|
Is
the Swachch Bharat Mission the Way to a Cleaner India? |
Nov
13th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
If
Bharat is to become Swachch, it cannot achieve this
without proactive concern for the lives and working
conditions of those who are responsible for keeping
our spaces clean.
|
|
Recent
Changes in Labour Laws: An exploratory note |
Nov
12th 2014, Anamitra
Roychowdhury |
|
This
article explores the possible implications of amending
the Contract Labour Act, 1970 and questions the rationale
behind amending the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
|
|
Dilma
Rousseff's Victory |
Nov
5th 2014, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
While
Dilma's victory represents an important step in the
right direction, intensified class struggle will be
required to sustain the scheme of "transfers"
to the working poor.
|
|
An
Obsession to Sell |
Oct
30th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
NDA government's strategy of accelerating the process
of privatisation is fiscally irrational and unsustainable
that will adversely affect the workers in the public
sector.
|
|
Deregulating
Diesel Prices |
Oct
30th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Linking
the price of oil to global market prices is simply another
way of putting the squeeze on mass consumers whose incomes
are well below the global average.
|
|
Exploiting
the Oil Price Crash |
Oct
30th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
government has decided to exploit the recent sharp decline
in oil prices to push deregulation. But this may not
help growth nor prove wise in the medium term.
|
|
In
Search of a New Industrial Stimulus |
Oct
24th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
new Modi slogan 'Make in India' is an old idea with
a new label and there is no reason to believe that a
new label can deliver the success that has been thus
far elusive.
|
|
Is
Rising Income Inequality Inevitable? |
Sep
16th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
In
spite of globalisation and technological change, patterns
of inequality within a country reflect internal political
economy, and can be changed by political choice.
|
|
The
Real Story on Gujarat's Development |
Sep
10th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
book, "Growth or Development: Which way is Gujarat
going?", provides a sober, balanced and solidly
researched account of Gujarat's development over the
past decade.
|
|
The
State and Indian Planning |
Sep
9th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Though
the Planning Commission faltered in residual developmental
role, but instead of reforming it the scrapping indicates
towards systematic dismantling of checks and balances.
|
|
The
Logic of Neoliberal Anti-Populism |
Aug
27th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Pursuing
fiscal consolidation by providing large transfers to
the rich while trimming expenditures that benefit the
poor is the best example of the ideology of anti-populism.
|
|
New
Macroeconomic Consensus Rules Budget 2014-15 |
Aug
4th 2014, Rohit |
|
The
author critiques the macroeconomic framework that underlies
the fiscal consolidation approach of the Union Budget
for 2014-15.
|
|
Social
Spending under the Modi Government |
Jul
25th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
A
decline in real terms in the budget allocations to the
crucial areas of public spending is a sign of the new
government's lack of respect for the rights of their
citizens.
|
|
Corporate
Karza Maafi at Rs. 36.5 Trillion |
Jul
21st 2014, P.
Sainath |
|
Since
2005-06 a cumulative amount of Rs. 36.5 trillion has
been given away to corporate sector in terms of various
sops in corporate income tax, excise duty and customs
duty.
|
|
Union
Budget 2014-15 |
Jul
15th 2014, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
basic fiscal strategy of the Union Budget 2014-15 is
to increase transfers to the rich and the affluent,
while reducing the outlays earmarked for the poor.
|
|
No
Sign of Change |
Jul
11th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
people of India, who have voted for a change, are likely
to be disappointed by the NDA government's first budget
as it signals no change on the economic policy front.
|
|
The
Missing Honeymoon |
Jul
9th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
government's decisiveness in ensuring quick clearances
for big, infrastructure projects would please the corporate
sector and private capital, but not the rest of India.
|
|
India
as a Manufacturing Hub |
Jul
8th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
strategy of the new government to revive India's manufacturing
sector by exploiting global value chains is well known,
but how much success this will bring is doubtful.
|
|
The
Moves towards 'De-Dollarization' |
Jun
18th 2014, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
de-Dollarisation attempts by Russia via the recent trade
deals with China and Iran can have major consequences,
but may be difficult to sustain due to internal pressures.
|
|
India's
External Resiliences |
Jun
17 th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
fall in the current account deficit of India may seem
heartening but this is possibly because of a temporary
respite in the areas where India’s vulnerability resides. |
|
Who
is Afraid of Illicit Finance? |
Jun
16th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
NDA
government's move to appoint an SIT to bring back illegal
money from abroad brought more complex issues of finance
and government's real intention to the foreground.
|
|
Chinese
Dreams |
Jun
11th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
pursuit of the Chinese dream may become a nightmare
for the majority as it involves reduction of expenditures
on food subsidies and other welfare measures.
|
|
Modi
with the Magic Wand |
Jun
11th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Modi
has persuaded people that his development magic wand
can deliver what others dare to promise. If he fails
to deliver on this the current euphoria can prove short-lived.
|
|
UPA-2
and Welfare Schemes |
May
29th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
Contrary
to the argument that UPA-2 wasted too much money on
"populist" schemes, it actually neglected
and spent less on these important welfare initiatives
than UPA-1. |
|
The
Offensive against Transfers to the Poor |
May
22nd 2014, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
demand by corporate magnates to roll back the relief
measures for the poor is nothing but an expression of
the class animosity of corporate capital towards the
working poor.
|
|
Stock
Market Boom amidst Economic Crisis |
May
19th 2014, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
stock market boom, within a slowdown in the economy,
serves the interest of the finance capital, and the
crisis cannot be addressed because the boom has to be
sustained.
|
|
Blaming
the "Other" |
May
15th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
BJP's aggressive stance on migrants from Bangladesh
is economically stupid. Strategies that seek to exploit
such divisive attitudes will boomerang on all Indians.
|
|
A
Political Economy of the Elections |
May
6th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Blind
faith on economic growth took the Congress away from
inclusiveness and public opinion but the BJP follows
the same lead and does not provide any economic alternative.
|
|
The
Post-Election Economy |
May
5th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Ideally
India needs a new and different vision for the economy,
but the parties that are being projected to do well
in the elections do not exhibit that new vision at all.
|
|
The
BJP's Election Manifesto |
Apr
17th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
One
of the most dangerous aspects of the BJP's vision for
India is that it envisages the enforcement of an aggressively
pro-big business agenda.
|
|
Big
Business and Mr. Modi |
Apr
16th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
If
India is not to be handed over to big business and a
rabidly communal fringe, it is best to keep Narendra
Modi out of the Prime Minister's office.
|
|
Rajan's
Target: Inflation or the poor? |
Mar
18th 2014, Rohit |
|
The
RBI Governor's call for inflation targets to be set
by the parliament is not a demand for providing relief
to the poor, but a gesture to assure global finance
capital.
|
|
Crony
Capitalism in the Age of State Capture |
Mar
10th 2014, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
illegal nexus between the state and big business for
the benefit of both has strengthened under the neoliberal
policy regime in India.
|
|
What
about the Aam Aurat? |
Feb
12th 2014, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
increasing evidence of patriarchal attitudes towards
women among the AAP leaders is the most compelling reason
for the growing wariness about the party among many
people.
|
|
Understanding
the "Mango People" |
Dec
31st 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
People's
aspiration for alternative, symbolised by AAP's success,
creates progressive political possibilities if the left
can see the changing realities and think creatively.
|
|
Animal
Spirits |
Dec
24th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
As
GDP growth slows, the government focuses on ways of
raising investment in the economy. But evidence from
the CSO suggests that the source of the problem may
lie elsewhere. |
|
Democracy,
Neoliberalism and Inclusiveness |
Nov
26th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
A
strategy of inclusive development is required instead
of the rhetorical ''inclusive growth'' propagated by
two main political parties in the run-up of next general
election.
|
|
Is
the Party Over? |
Oct
3rd 2013, Rohit |
|
The
article analyses the reasons behind the poor performance
of the Indian economy in the recent past and suggests
measures for way out of the current crisis.
|
|
Class
War at the Capital |
Sep
19th 2013, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Indian
State's treatment of workers under neoliberalism is
not a normal "class war," but a "class
war" in which the ruling classes are fast moving
in the direction of fascism.
|
|
Is
Fiscal Profligacy the Cause of the Crisis? |
Sep
10th 2013, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Current
account deficit is a major reason behind lack of demand
and slowdown. Government spending on food security can
boost demand for domestic goods and chance of a revival.
|
|
The
Discreet Charms of Controlling Imports |
Sep
4th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Some
protection from imports together with current account
balancing is clearly what is necessary now to deal with
India's balance of payment crisis.
|
|
Growth
versus Redistribution |
Aug
19th 2013, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
In
reference to the recent Sen-Bhagwati debate, the author
argues that redistribution is a fundamental right in
a democracy and is not necessarily dependent on growth.
|
|
The
Sen-Bhagwati "Debate" on Economic Policy in
India |
Aug
14th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
recent Sen-Bhagwati debate is not about a choice between
economic growth and social sector spending; rather it
is more about the economic strategy of growth.
|
|
Banks
and the F-word |
Aug
8th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
rising incidence of bank frauds in India breaks the
myth that better accounting standards and stringent
disclosure requirements post-liberalisation would discourage
fraud.
|
|
Once
More, without Feeling: The Government of India’s latest
poverty estimates |
Aug
8th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
Government of India's latest poverty lines are appallingly
low and unrealistic, that make a cruel joke on the actual
living standards of the bulk of the population.
|
|
What
Defines Headline Inflation? |
Jul
30th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Barely
a year and a half since the government started computing
headline inflation based on CPI rather than WPI, it
has returned to focusing on WPI-based inflation.
|
|
The
India behind the New Poverty Ratio |
Jul
30th 2013, Rahul
Goswami |
|
Poverty
in India is far more serious than that suggested by
the Planning Commission's latest claims, and the latter
may crucially impact upon social welfare programmes.
|
|
The
Politics of a Development Strategy |
Jun
17th 2013, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Narendra
Modi's projection as India's Prime Ministerial candidate
is the political denouncement of the economic strategy
that is completely anti-people and pro-corporate.
|
|
Whose
Public Interest? |
Jun
11th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Whatever
government is in power, ''public interest'' cannot be
appropriated to stifle dissenting voices through abuse
of power and undemocratic use of legislation.
|
|
Privatising
the ICDS? |
May
30th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
government's proposal to hand over the supply of supplementary
nutrition to NGOs is an invitation for private profiteering
on the back of the supposedly public scheme.
|
|
The
Corruption System |
May
29th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
greater corruption witnessed under liberalisation reflects
an aggravation of the systemic tendency towards primitive
accumulation of capital characteristic of capitalism.
|
|
The
Political Economy of Indian Food Exports |
Apr
2nd 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
The
article discusses the political economy configurations
that permit rising grain exports from India, even as
domestic food prices spiral out of the reach of ordinary
people.
|
|
The
Neo-liberal Paralysis |
Mar
6th 2013, Subhanil
Chowdhury |
|
India's
commitment to neo-liberalism and enticement of global
finance capital forbid it to undertake any policy aimed
at ameliorating the current condition of the economy.
|
|
Is
this Really a Budget for Women? |
Mar
6th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Many
of the policies implicit or explicit in the Budget statement
have implications that are adverse for most women because
they involve cuts in essential public spending.
|
|
Tax
Concessions to Companies |
Mar
5th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
Revenue
foregone due to direct tax concessions to the corporate
sector has become a huge element in the Budget, and
one that is increasingly coming under public scrutiny.
|
|
Niggardly
on Essential Spend |
Mar
1st 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Given
that the Indian electorate would soon see what the real
implications of the budget 2013-14 are, it is surprising
that his own party let Chidambaram get away with this.
|
|
Two
Parties, One Vision |
Feb
6th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Despite
the handicap stemming from the growing similarity of
its economic policy with that of the BJP, the economic
policy vision of the Congress party is unlikely to change.
|
|
India
and the Congress Party |
Jan
9th 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
Congress Party's actions that appear insensitive, distant
and even cynically patronising have alienated its core
constituency of the poor, minorities and middle classes.
|
|
Hawking
the Deficit |
Jan
8th 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
While
the government proclaims the need to reduce fiscal deficit,
its actual performance in recent years has been well
below projections, especially due to lower receipts.
|
|
Polishing
the Nation's Silver |
Jan
3rd 2013, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Avoiding
taxation route and relying more on non-debt capital
receipts has led to the failure of the government on
the fiscal front in terms of its deficit reduction target.
|
|
Mad
about Cash Transfers |
Jan
1st 2013, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Cash
transfer is seen by the Congress Party as the vehicle
that will lead it to electoral victory. But, in no case
should it be seen as substitute for public service delivery.
|
|
Gujarat:
A growth story retold |
Dec
14th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
benefits of Gujarat's economic growth have not been
shared with the State’s poor and working population,
even as the sustainability of the growth trajectory
is in doubt.
|
|
Demonising
Dissent |
Dec
5th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
reform measures of the UPA government, its double standards
and failure to actually improve the conditions of its
people have been major sources of public disappointment.
|
|
India
Wants More than Crony Capitalism |
Nov
14th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Revelations
of corruption are engulfing the country's leading Congress
party. But what will replace it?
|
|
Does
the Left have an Alternative? |
Oct
31st 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Left
trajectory, an alternative to the policy being pursued
in India, can sustain only if it reverses the neo-liberal
policies and carries forward the interests of the people.
|
|
The
Role of the Small Retailer |
Oct
6th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
As
evidence suggests, policy of pushing organised retail
will result in substantial loss of employment and livelihood
contrary to the official claim of employment growth.
|
|
FDI
in Retail: Benefiting neo-liberalism, harming people |
Sep
26th 2012, Subhanil
Chowdhury |
|
The
decision of the UPA government to open up the retail
sector in the country to FDI is an example of the basic
fallacy in the 'growth fetishism' of the votaries of
neo-liberalism. While the government argues that this
move will generate investor confidence in the Indian
economy and lead the country to high growth, in reality
the problems of the common people - deprivation, poverty
and hunger - far from being ameliorated, will actually
be intensified.
|
|
Emerging
Dynamics of Global Production Networks and Labour Process:
A study from India |
|
Sep
12th 2012, Praveen Jha and Amit Chakraborty |
|
With
cheap labour and a strong supply base, India's automobile
sector has emerged successful in integrating itself
into the global production networks. Using case studies
from the National Capital Region, this paper seeks to
study the nature of changes in the organisation of production
and work in the automobile sector - both intra-firm
and inter-firm - and their impact on the changing labour
processes and issues of managerial control, skill or
working conditions. The anatomy of the recent waves
of labour unrest there has been studied to investigate
its relation with changing labour processes, and to
understand the new regime of accumulation from a political
economy perspective in terms of the dynamic interaction
of capital's strategy, technology and the agency of
labour. |
|
The
Parthasarathi Shome Committee Report |
Sep
10th 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
Shome Committee Report has recommended that the introduction
of GAAR should be kept in abeyance until April 1, 2016
and that the capital gains tax be done away with altogether.
These are all a reflection of the Manmohan Singh government's
keenness to legitimise its efforts to start another
stock market ''bubble'', which it thinks will stimulate
growth by attracting more speculative finance capital
into the country.
|
|
Redefining
the Nation |
Sep
6th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Growth
achieved under the UPA regime as a result of the reform
pursued relentlessly by them has benefited a few while
excluding the majority. So to argue that such growth
is in the interests of national security is to redefine
the nation itself.
|
|
Gender,
Property and Institutional Basis of Tax Policy Concessions:
Investigating the Hindu Undivided Family |
|
Sep
1st 2012, Chirashree Das Gupta |
|
This
discussion note is an attempt to situate the development
of Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) as a legal tax entity
recognised by tax law, separate and distinct from individuals
and corporate entities. Over the years this tool has
been used by the family-owned business groups for evading
tax. In fact in the era of neoliberal globalisation,
the laws of the land have been altered suitably to facilitate
the transformation of family-owned business groups into
multinationals without an increase in their total corporate
liability. |
|
A
Scandal in Kerala |
Aug
24th 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Passing
a legislation permitting plantation owners in Kerala
to use up to five percent of the land under their control
for purposes other than growing plantation crops, including
growing other crops and real estate projects, legitimises
the illegal land occupations of the big plantation owners
and opens up huge tracts of land for the operation of
the real estate mafia. Crucially, it will also eliminate
any scope for an extension of land reforms, which was
a major component of the trajectory of egalitarian development
in the state.
|
|
Capital
and Public Expenditure |
Aug
24th 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
author explores the paradox of why capitalists are opposed
to public expenditures even in economies with high unemployment
and unutilised capacity despite the fact that such investments
would boost aggregate demand. The answer lies in preserving
the capitalists' control over the level of output and
employment and thereby maintaining their hegemony over
society.
|
|
Tweaking
Animal Spirits |
Aug
8th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
One
element of the emerging policy consensus within India's
economic policy establishment involves spurring demand
for the private sector by diverting expenditure away
from subsidies for the poor to finance investment. Simultaneously,
a case is being made for providing more concessions
to cajole the private sector into exploiting this opportunity.
|
|
The
Growth Model has Come Undone |
Jul
12th 2012, Mritiunjoy
Mohanty |
|
The
government's argument that India's economic slowdown
is the result of the global situation and related uncertainty
is only partly true. The deeper reason is the unravelling
of the underlying growth model - partly due to the greatly
increased import dependence of the manufacturing sector
and partly because the investment subsidy that Indian
companies enjoyed due to the under-pricing of assets
is no longer feasible.
|
|
Markets
and the Role of Law? |
Jul
2nd 2012, Bikku
Kuruvila |
|
While
law is presented within the dominant policy discourse
as a source of transaction costs and bureaucracy, markets
simply could not exist without the rigorous enforcement
of rules and contracts that allow the much-celebrated
moments of ''free exchange'' to proceed with any certainty.
In this light, it is very important to look at the political
compromises, policy resolutions and distributional consequences
created by market-oriented state intervention. To this
view, India in 2012 is already largely integrated into
the global economy with the growth, volatility and inequality
that such integration entails.
|
|
Pranab
Mukherjee as Finance Minister |
Jun
26th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Although
he has been awarded as the best Finance Minister, Pranab
Mukherjee has failed to manage the economy that has
been reeling under decelerating growth, rising prices
of essential goods and stagnant employment along with
high youth unemployment. He did little or nothing to
ameliorate any of these problems, instead, in some cases
he exacerbated them.
|
|
The
Queen and her Guards |
Jun
13th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
aggrandised celebration that marked the Queen's diamond
jubilee was successful in concealing the grim economic
realities of the British economy. A disquieting employment
situation, discussed in the article, raises concern
that it could just be the tip of the iceberg and that
a sweatshop scenario that was once regarded as typical
of the developing world exists in the UK as well.
|
|
The
Emerging Left in the Emerging World |
Jun
12th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
In
this article, the author reviews several features of
emerging left movements in Latin America, Africa and
developing Asia that suggest a move away from some traditional
ideas associated with socialist theory and practice
even as there are two important areas of continuity
with the leftist thinking of the past. |
|
ILO
Leadership Election Must Not be Another Charade |
May
21st 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
ILO is uniquely positioned among the multilateral organisations
to play an extremely significant role in forging a global
consensus around viable alternative economic trajectories.
The election of a developing country candidate as its
new Director-General would have important consequences
that go beyond symbolism.
|
|
Time
to End the Madness |
May
16th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
Irrational
insistence on fiscal conservatism has led to widespread
growth slowdown not only in the European countries,
but also in emerging economies like China and India.
The political backlash in major eurozone economies rekindles
hope that governments embracing growth stunting fiscal
tightening would soon switch back to sound economic
policy-making.
|
|
Is
a Universal Pension Scheme Feasible in India? |
May
16th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
In
an economy like ours, a universal pension scheme must
be part of a broader development strategy that focuses
on public investment in physical and social infrastructure,
which will ensure supply of necessary goods and services
while increasing demand from the population in a stable
and inclusive way.
|
|
The
Roaring 2000s |
May
11th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
coincidence of the profit and the output booms during
the two post-liberalisation booms in India's organised
manufacturing sector since the early 1990s suggests
that in periods of rising demand, the organised manufacturing
sector in India has been a major beneficiary of reform
through a rise in mark up. The complaints of the leaders
of this sector are therefore not to be taken too seriously.
|
|
A
Communist's Life under Capitalism |
May
8th 2012, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
contradictions confronting the personal life of a Communist
activist having to work within a capitalist society
have not attracted much classical Marxist theorizing.
But the question of how a communist living under capitalism
must both engage in quotidian life and yet be outside
of it needs to be addressed for the formulation of an
appropriate Communist praxis in today's world.
|
|
Paralysis
in Policy Assessment |
May
8th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
kind of policy paralysis that the UPA government is
identified with refers to the failure of the government
to deliver fully on its commitment to so-called economic
reform. But the true paralysis lies in its inability
to address deprivation by allocating additional resources
and improving delivery to accelerate advance on the
human development front.
|
|
The
Continuing Need for Industrial Policy |
May
7th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
13th UNCTAD conference held recently in Qatar discussed
industrial policies as the significant yet unsung force
behind the much trumpeted emergence of some developing
economies as major players in the global stage. Despite
liberalisation in the '90s, much of India's success
too lies in the industrial policies that preceded it.
Moreover, India has much to learn from its counterparts
like Brazil on how to utilise industrial policies even
in largely market-driven economies.
|
|
Food
and Agriculture: Trends in India into the early Twelfth
Plan period |
|
Apr
23rd 2012, Rahul Goswami |
|
The
transformation taking place in India's agriculture and
crop cultivation choices is brought about by a few key
factors that have begun to heavily influence the patterns
of crop cultivation, the movement of food through India
and the effect of these on nutrition on different income
classes in rural and urban habitats. In this view, foreign
direct investment in multi-brand retail and the influence
of the retail food industry is linked with climate change
impacts and the proposed genetic engineering solutions;
the combining of agriculture, health and nutrition is
aided by pro-technology policies and consumption geared
for urbanising India; and the domination by the USA
of the crop science, research agenda and market reform
process is still evident. These factors are responsible
for the repetition of the misdiagnosis of impending
hunger in the country by the Government of India as
being a consequence of a lack of food, to be tackled
today, and tackled exclusively by technological means. |
|
The
Dollar Drain |
Apr
16th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
With
the government announcing the new liberalised norm for
remittances for Indian residents, there has been a spurt
in capital outflow from the country. The rising Indian
appetite to invest abroad could prove a problem if uncertainty
with regard to rupee rises, as such uncertainty could
trigger capital flight in a liberalised environment.
|
|
An
Inequitable Path: The ritualistic exercise in fiscal management |
Mar
23rd 2012, Amiya
Kumar Bagchi |
|
Ignoring
all the evidences of the fact that growth does not trickle
down, the Budget 2012-13 has emphasised the target of
raising the rate of growth at any cost without bothering
about the majority of Indian population. Instead what
was needed for managing the economy was a progressive
system of taxation, employment creation and universalisation
of the public distribution of food grains.
|
|
Employment
and Social Spending in Budget 2012-13 |
Mar
21st 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Highly
regressive in both taxation and spending terms, the
Budget 2012-13 has managed the remarkable feat of upsetting
almost everyone and making no aam aurat and aam aadmi
happy. It provides conclusive proof of the UPA government
having lost its way as it seems to have forgotten the
importance of its own ''flagship schemes''.
|
|
Mutiny
of the Minority Shareholder |
Mar
19th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
In
what would be a first for India, a minority foreign
investor in a public sector company that had gone in
for privatisation, in this case a hedge fund looking
for capital gains, has challenged the right of the government
to pursue policies it presumes is in the national interest.
|
|
Budget
2012-13 |
Mar
17th 2012, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Highly
regressive in terms of taxation, the Budget 2012-13
will obviously lead to rising prices with continuing
shortfalls in employment. Hence it emerges that the
greatest losers from this budget will be the Indian
consumers, particularly the poorer sections.
|
|
From
Food Security to Food Justice |
Feb
7th 2012, Ananya
Mukherjee |
|
Millions
of Indians suffer from the twin violence of hunger and
injustice. However, most of the Indian governments are
neither willing nor able to deliver food justice. Therefore,
the need of the hour is the devolution of power and
resources to the local level so that with their knowledge
of local needs and situations they can create a just
food economy, as has been shown by the women in Kerala.
|
|
Capitalism
and Hunger |
Jan
20th 2012, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
After
close to 65 years of independent national development,
the level of child malnutrition in India remains unacceptably
high. The capitalist growth of the worst variety fostered
by neoliberalism and the consequent refusal of the government
to directly address the problem explains the cause for
this ''national shame''.
|
|
Protest
in the Age of Crises |
Nov
2nd 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
If
the Occupy Wall Street movement is to acquire strength
to actually confront the might of finance capital and
the state it controls, it must find greater cohesion,
with an organisational structure and a programme that
goes beyond anger against the capitalist system and
the condition to which it has reduced the majority.
|
|
Karuturistan,
Ethiopia: The fire next time? |
Oct
21st 2011, Alemayehu
G. Mariam |
|
Karuturi
is an Indian MNC that currently owns 2,500 sq km of
virgin fertile land in Gambala, Ethiopia, where it practices
corporate farming. The project has not only displaced
local inhabitants from their homeland, it is also impoverishing
the local community by bringing in farmers from India
and thereby denying local people the right to livelihood.
The produce is meant to be exported to the international
market, whereas Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients
of foreign food aid.
|
|
Much
More Needed to Help the Poor |
Oct
19th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
Planning Commission's Approach Paper to the Twelfth
Plan is not only disappointing, but also disturbing
in its attitude towards poverty reduction. Multidimensional
approach to poverty, which any sensible government would
adopt today, is ignored in the Approach paper and the
policy interventions that have been proposed are pathetic.
|
|
''Planning''
for Whom? |
Oct
12th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
There
are some fundamental changes in the Planning Commission's
current perspective relative to the earlier periods.
In the post-Independence years, pursuit of profit was
not seen as being in the social interest and this was
reflected in the nature of development planning. But
now, profit is the sole motive and the role of the state
is to merely facilitate this by incentivising corporate
activity.
|
|
Approaching
the 12th Plan |
Sep
26th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Considering
India's slow growth of employment in the recent period
because of our demographic bulge and increasing numbers
of educated youth in search of productive employment,
the need of the hour is to redesign our growth strategy
and use social policy and social expenditure to generate
more employment as employment creation is the most important
mechanism for achieving inclusive economic growth.
|
|
Nix
to Both Teams: People's power can only work within a structured
system |
Sep
12th 2011, Ashok
Mitra |
|
Although
people's power is a beautiful idea, it can work only
within the format of a structured system. While the
Anna Hazare movement leaves lessons for the government
and the Parliament, it should also make the nation realise
the perils from excesses indulged in the name of the
people's will.
|
|
Afterword
on a Movement |
Sep
7th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Any
undermining of parliamentary democracy represents a
huge social retrogression. But a positive fall-out from
the Hazare movement hopefully is self-rectification
by the ''democratic State'' in the face of this challenge.
However, the Hazare group's assault on parliamentary
institutions and exclusive emphasis on corruption within
the state machinery, to the exclusion of the corporate
sector and civil society groups, could turn out to be
a part of an agenda of converting Indian democracy into
a ''corporatocracy''.
|
|
Grabbing
Global Farmland |
Sep
7th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
It
is essential to fight the irresponsible and exploitative
behavior manifested by Indian companies involved in
the recent trend in large-scale overseas acquisitions
of farmland and the undemocratic processes underlying
these land grabs. Without this, the struggle for greater
economic justice within India will also be undermined.
|
|
India's
Role in the New Global Farmland Grab |
Aug
23rd 2011, Rick Rowden |
|
This
report explores the role of Indian agricultural companies
that have been involved in the recent trend in large-scale
overseas acquisitions of farmland. In addition to examining
the various factors driving the ''outsourcing'' of domestic
food production, the report also explores the negative
consequences of such a trend. It looks at why critics
have called the trend ''land grabbing'' and reviews the
impacts on local peoples on the ground, who are often
displaced in the process. |
|
America's
Debt-ceiling Crisis |
Aug
4th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
compromise between Obama and the Republicans to end
the US debt-ceiling crisis has done great damage in
terms of a sharp regression in income distribution and
a remarkable shift to the Right in the US, as well as
an aggravation of the recession in the world economy.
|
|
Changing
Guard at the IMF? |
Jul
6th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
The
change of guard at the IMF would not make a difference
as long as there is no significant change in the Fund's
approach to economic policies. Despite the experience
of continually getting it wrong in so many countries
over so many decades, the Fund is still persisting in
imposing the blatantly counterproductive strategy of
fiscal austerity everywhere.
|
|
Why
is India Suddenly so Angry about Corruption? |
Jun
18th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
Post
liberalisation, market-oriented reforms have delivered
higher aggregate growth but also significantly increased
economic inequality and material insecurity for the
majority of India's population. The recent outrage against
corruption in India reflects a great betrayal felt by
a populace that had been told that the era of neoliberal
economic policies would end vices that were supposedly
associated with greater government involvement in economic
activity.
|
|
Commodities
and Corruption |
Jun
6th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
Capitalism
is supposed to bring in modernity, which includes a secular
polity. Many have even defended neo-liberal reforms on
the grounds that they hasten capitalist development and
hence our march to modernity. But the incident of four
senior central ministers kow-towing most abjectly to a
''Baba'' proves that neo-liberal India, far from countering
pre-modernity, is actually strengthening it. This proves
the leftist argument that in countries embarking late
on capitalist development, the bourgeoisie allies itself
with the feudal and semi-feudal elements that impedes
the march to modernity. |
|
The Left and Elections in West Bengal |
May
18th 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh |
|
Assembly
elections in West Bengal have resulted in defeat of
the Left Front government after 34 years in power. However,
a detailed look at the voting shares shows that the
Left parties still managed to garner more than 41 per
cent of the votes which by no means can be taken as
showing a big decline in popular support for the Left
among the people in the state. |
|
The
Growth-discrimination Nexus |
Apr
13th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
It
is argued by many that market forces break open age-old
social norms, particularly those of caste and gender.
However, unfortunately, capitalism in India, especially
in its most recent globally integrated variant, has
used social discrimination and exclusion to its own
benefit, to take forward the growth story. |
|
Why
West Bengal Needs a Left Government |
Apr
4th 2011, Jayati
Ghosh |
|
It
is not only for taking forward the struggle for democracy
but also the successful achievements of the Left government
in the areas of land distribution and health that West
Bengal should have a government headed by a revitalised
Left Front. It is essential to consolidate these achievements
and move forward, rather than allow them to be dissipated
or even reversed. |
|
The
Paradox of Capitalism |
Feb
4th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
fact that the bulk of the world's population continues
to struggle for subsistence is because of the incubus
of an exploitative social order; but this is often obscured
by analyses that continue to cling to the illusion that
the logic of compound interest will overcome the ''economic
problem of mankind''. |
|
Policy
Paralysis and Inflation |
Feb
3rd 2011, C.P.
Chandrasekhar |
|
The
price trends over the last one-and-a-half years suggest
that inflation is being driven by factors which are
structurally embedded in the economic environment generated
by the government's neoliberal reform agenda adopted
for two decades now. Further, neoliberal thinking is
leading not only to policy paralysis and absurd reasoning,
but also to policy responses that are contrary to what
is needed. |
|
The
Criminalization of Dissent |
Jan
13th 2011, Prabhat
Patnaik |
|
The
official position idealising economic growth as a national
goal and vilifying any opposition to it as anti-national,
is reification. But, equally importantly, it is dangerous,
both because it criminalizes ideological dissent and
because it implicitly justifies corporate control over
the State. |
|
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