Page 9 - Weekend Ruminations

Budget 2020: Why govt must look beyond taxes, do more with its money

Though non-tax revenues, including borrowings, account for 40% of the Budget, there seems to be little focus on boosting these or reducing borrowings by saving on expenditure, writes T N Ninan

Some questions from Asia's history of 50 years that need urgent answers

India needs to figure out whether it pays to be rule-takers or seek to be rule-setters. Or, do we have an answer to China's strategic challenge? If not, what are our options, wonders T N Ninan

A real Budget, please: This one has to confront severe resource restraints

In Budget 2020 speech, the FM should state how she intends to return to the 7% track, and the hard decisions she will take to adjust to the realities of a slowing economy, writes T N Ninan

How Kejriwal's AAP and Modi's BJP are strikingly similar, and yet different

The two offer the same package - personality cult, populist schemes, inflated claims, etc - but the hard edge to BJP's communalism is missing in AAP, a difference we should celebrate, writes T N Ninan

Re-think GST: No economy can afford to persist with a failed tax experiment

Let's pretend no more that the system isn't broken. The Centre needs to break heads in the GST Council and work out new slabs and rates (the fewer the better) and make a fresh start, writes T N Ninan

India's economy and BJP's ambitious political thrust on divergent tracks

The ruling party may have assumed the economy will revive on its own before next elections, but such facile belief can come unstuck if current directions are not reversed quickly, writes T N Ninan

Privatisation to the rescue: But will it work? Here's how it can be made to

The Modi govt is strong enough to override the resistance that has come from some quarters, but it should be mindful of reputation risks in decisions on complex financial questions, writes T N Ninan

Don't waste this crisis: There's no more room to ignore bad economics

A crisis is when a govt can expect people to make sacrifices for the larger good. The danger of doing nothing is that growth of 6% or less becomes the norm, not the unacceptable, writes T N Ninan

Darkening clouds: Govt denial, inadequate response are not helping economy

If we go on being inward-looking, how will the system open up? Those that are not competitive locking competitive ones out of markets cannot be a way to get to the $5-trn dream, writes T N Ninan

India must take a leaf out of China's book and prepare its economy for RCEP

The economy needs changes that can't be made overnight; without them, it will continue to under-perform, whether India signs up for RCEP or not. Work should have started 7 years ago, writes T N Ninan

Bengaluru's licence rules are shutting down many iconic live music venues

Two iconic venues will shut shop by next week. Another 100-odd are at risk

India's eroding institutional and social capital

Society enters a dangerous phase when foundational principles and institutions are seen as mere tactical assets, to be set aside when convenient, writes T N Ninan

T N Ninan: Trillion, or 10 kharab?

A modern economy with strong global linkages must switch to million, billion and so on. For the average India, efforts needed to make the mental adjustment and give up lakh, crore may not be a big ask

T N Ninan: Not always soft

With Modi govt, we may be seeing India willing to adopt hard stances more often than before, even if this new approach is selectively applied

T N Ninan: Finding winners in the market

It goes without saying that the best performers are in the private sector

T N Ninan: The prospects for 2019

Will Modi and BJP repeat their 2014 performance to win absolute majority in 2019 Lok Sabha polls?

T N Ninan: 'The opposite is also true'

Beware of simplistic conclusions about the Indian economy, because the data are often contradictory

T N Ninan: Will BJP change Mumbai?

The city needs some autonomy, or it will continue to decline in all the ways that are familiar

T N Ninan: The AAP phenomenon

The party's drive to become a regional force contrasts with Congress' comfort in being a junior ally

T N Ninan: Next battle - Labour reform

Congress is already opposed to the proposed law; regional parties might become the swing factor