Page 5 - T N Ninan

What Cairn, Vodafone and Devas episodes tell us about India's arbitrariness

The Indian state's arbitrariness may have come to be accepted with resignation within the country, but when it behaves in the same manner with external players, it gets a push-back, writes T N Ninan

Globalisation, old and new: What changing world order means for India

Globalisation is morphing as new agendas come into focus. These now drive action on climate change, taxation of global companies, tackling terrorism, sharing vaccines and the like, writes T N Ninan

30 years after 1991: What we achieved as an economy, and what was possible

India's record has been good, relative to how other countries have done and compared also to its own previous three decades, but well short of what is required and what was possible, writes T N Ninan

What's the price of a life? A case for compensation to kin of Covid victims

The prospect of a compensation will incentivise reporting of deaths and ensure we get more accurate statistics. It will also act as pressure and force govts to control the situation, writes T N Ninan

That dream house: Real estate has some opportunity waiting to be tapped

If the real estate sector is properly managed, it could drive not just finance but demand for a range of products and services, writes T N Ninan

The Great Gatsby Curve: Will India be like East Asia or Latin America?

If India combines great inequality with poor inter-generation mobility, it risks becoming, not like East Asia with its rapid growth rates, but like under-performing Latin America, writes T N Ninan

How Covid crisis exhausted what Mr Modi had in plenty all these years

The three things that derailed the economy in the past - war, drought and oil - were mostly absent during his regime, but with the Covid crisis Mr Modi's luck seems to have run out, writes T N Ninan

Seven reasons why Central Vista project is all wrong in its present form

Besides other flaws, why should such a project be executed in the midst of a pandemic when every rupee that can be spared should go into improving India's medical capabilities, wonders T N Ninan

Meanwhile, the good news: A look at another side of the India story

T N Ninan looks at Credit Suisse India Strategist Neelkanth Mishra's four-part article series in Business Standard and how it spells hope at a time when a health care crisis has pervaded the country

'Third World', again? The virus has exposed India's underbelly for all to see

We show our weakness for declaring victory midway, as with Covid and Doklam, celebrate setback as victory, as at Depsang. And the old prickliness about foreign criticism remains, writes T N Ninan

A rising tide of old ideas: How world economics has changed in 4 decades

Higher tax rates, central banks pumping out cash, protection for home industry, suppressing interest rates, high social welfare pay-outs - all hark back to pre-Thatcher-Reagan phase - notes T N Ninan

Covid redux: Focus on real solutions, do not make a mockery of this crisis

Medicare capacity has to be increased at warp speed. Many companies and business sectors already suffer from 'morbidities', and a fresh setback could push many over the brink, cautions T N Ninan

Futility of protest: Easier to start a revolution than influence its course

Myanmar, Belarus, China's Hong Kong and Russia have all pointed to a futility of protests, and that even sustained street revolutions fail now in country after country, writes T N Ninan

50 and beyond: How Bangladesh has fared in half a century of its history

Dhaka's justification for breaking away from West Pakistan is now self-evident. If it has done better than New Delhi in 50 years, it has completely outpaced Pakistan on every metric, writes T N Ninan

Future shock: New rules needed for the new world, but who will write them?

How should personal data be used and not used? What about the disintermediated media that has teamed up with Big Tech to re-invent politics by spreading post-truth and hate mail, wonders T N Ninan

New landscape in Old India: Building spree in the midst of familiar hassles

Even as the govt tries to scale up infrastructure, Centre-state squabbles, environmentalists' concerns, hassles over land acquisition and plain old project delays affect projects, writes T N Ninan

The meaning of 'partly free', and the direction in which India is headed

How far the govt will go towards establishing its control depends on the effectiveness of domestic institutional resistance and on how much it wants to risk international censure, writes T N Ninan

Poverty alleviation: Why India is not able do to what China has pulled off

What should concern India is not just its loss of economic momentum, but also the fact that it is not outpacing countries not even remotely like China in growth and development, writes T N Ninan

New tack on economic policy: Why's Modi govt going against its natural instinct?

The promise of a less suspicious govt is surprising. What about the disconnect between the new business stance and earlier push to dictate the narrative in politics and public life, wonders T N Ninan

A different Modi: The PM is no longer shy of showing his real hand

A faltering economy may have led to a re-think on economic strategy. And Mr Modi might think he is politically strong enough to take some risks. But there could be a minefield ahead, writes T N Ninan