It seems that the Narendra Modi government has decided, in an election year, that general elections can be fought and won without efforts to improve the material conditions of the bulk of the people, and even simply ignoring their suffering.

Faced with a Union government that puts its own image-building ahead of the good of the people, let us imagine a scenario where Budget 2022-23 is, instead, drafted by a government which is willing to cooperate with the states and respond to the needs of the people.

India is now one of the most unequal countries for both income and wealth inequality — and has shown the most rapid increases in inequality.

The most important concern is that of increasing public spending.

The economist-journalist always handled herself with poise, courtesy and civility, even in contexts that have grown increasingly less appreciative of these fine qualities.

New Delhi shouldn’t ignore the interests of developing economies over worries that the funds may be used for ‘extraneous reasons’.

Breman's central finding about the close coexistence of capitalism and labour bondage contains remarkable nuggets of hope for transcendence.

The Modi government has tried to reduce the share of taxes that state government's receive, while also dabbling in the duties assigned to states.

There is a huge, unexplained discrepancy between the budget amounts and the ‘provisional actual’ figures for Central expenditure and revenue contained in the Economic Survey.

While troubles on the low investment are simply assumed away, the silence on major issues like job creation and the viability of agriculture was deafening. 

While the total costs of such a plan could be at most 6% of GDP, it would be far better for the country's future.

The aggregate macroeconomic impact of this Budget cannot really be assessed, since the actual fiscal stance is now so opaque.

The anti-imperialist scholar was very critical of the models of development and of the institutional structures of nation-states in developing countries that slavishly imitated the West, which he felt enabled colonialism to easily transmogrify into neo-colonialism.

True to its title, Haruki Murakami and Seiji Ozawa’s ‘Absolutely On Music’ is a book that has to be read and listened to all at once.

For those who were victimised or isolated for dissident views, of whatever description, there was a special place in Ashok Mitra's heart.

Revisiting a review written for 'Frontline' magazine of the English version of Ashok Mitra's Bengali memoirs, 'Apila Chapila', published in 2007. Mitra passed away in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Even the vaguely “pink” effort in the Economic Survey is whitewashed in the finance minister’s Budget speech that is heavily based on stereotypical gender roles for women, and even that completely disappears when we get to the actual budget allocations.

The model of development that was presented as a success story relies on patronising and providing incentives to large businesses while simultaneously suppressing wage incomes.

Given the massive hit taken by informal workers after demonetisation, the Budget's provisions for them are quite inadequate and will be seen as such.

In The Curse of Cash, Kenneth Rogoff argues that advanced economies should slowly phase out most paper currency, but stresses that the move is not intended for developing countries like India.