-The Telegraph ‘Farmers at mercy of corporates, food security threatened’ Eminent economist, professor emeritus at Jawaharlal Nehru University and activist Prabhat Patnaik traces the downward and dangerous slide of the Indian economy, from the demonetisation to the new farm bills. * The first onslaught was in the form of the demonetisation. While Amartya Sen termed this step “despotic”, Narendra Modi gushed that there would be no black money after the demonetisation. In the...

-The Hindu After India’s economy collapsed in the first quarter of 2020-21 following the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, some economic indicators from September and October, from power consumption to GST collections, suggest that things are improving. But is this a sustainable recovery under way, or just an expression of pent-up demand combined with India’s festive-season spending? In a conversation moderated by Vikas Dhoot, Naushad Forbes and M....

-The Hindu Business Line Many high-frequency economic indicators are looking good, but must sustain beyond the unlock period, too There has been a sudden surge of optimism in the economy with various high-frequency indicators — PMI numbers, auto production/dispatches, e-way bills generated, GST collections, etc. — showing positive tendencies. So, should we be celebrating? The answer is, yes and no. Yes, because there is something good happening in the economy and hence bodes...

-The Hindu India could be living through a reprise of the ‘Congress system’, but with significant differences in the BJP’s re-enactment At the first signs of stress, the grand vision of a nation unified in a singular system of taxation, was supplanted by a policy of every-state-for-itself. Just over three years ago, the introduction of a unified “goods and services tax” (GST) was heralded by a midnight session of Parliament, a theatrical...

-The Hindu The Centre is best positioned to raise additional resources to bridge the GST compensation gap Today is the crucial meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council. It may not be an exaggeration to claim that today’s meeting could mark a milestone in the history of India’s fiscal federalism and shape the future of Centre-State relations. In 2017, the Centre made a promise to the States that a certain minimum...