A rupee in free fall; a terrifyingly wide current-account deficit; a corrupt, stagnant bureaucracy: In 1991, then-Finance Minister Manmohan Singh helped to rescue India’s economy from that near-death experience with a slew of liberalizing reforms, setting the stage for two decades of growth. Today, facing a similar, if less existential, crisis as India’s prime minister, Singh may well be the […]
By the time Tony Blair left office in 2007, he had built a surveillance state unrivalled anywhere in the democratic world. Parliament passed 45 criminal justice laws – more than the total for the previous century – creating more than 3,000 new criminal offences. That corresponded to two new offences for each day parliament sat […]
When the U.S. financial system crashed in 2008, market watchers were increasingly romancing the idea of a “decoupling” that would separate emerging-market fortunes from those of the subprime-hobbled U.S. Such economies as Brazil’s and China’s, the thinking went, had the demographics and national balance sheets to keep growing and wowing as America foundered. Never happened. Read […]
As on a battlefield, so in the marketplace — a war to defend the economy is not won by the deployment of superior armoury but by the cleverness and credibility of one’s strategy and tactics. In a crisis, economic policymakers are like generals in war time. Their reputation is won not by the superiority of […]
As the Pakistani anti-terrorism court prepares to indict former President Pervez Musharraf over the murder of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the UN official who conducted the special investigation into her death recounts his own search for answers. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
Earth Overshoot Day marks the moment when, according to Global Footprint Network, an independent think tank based in the United States, Switzerland, and Belgium, humanity’s demand for natural resources exceeds the earth’s ability to renew them in a year. As of today, just 34 weeks into 2013, we are officially in ecological overdraft. Read Here – […]
It’s therefore clear that some in China view the unresolved border dispute as working in Beijing’s favor. China’s aggressive patrolling along the unsettled border keeps India’s military forces tied down on multiple fronts, tests Delhi’s resolve, heightens its anxiety, exposes its strategic vulnerabilities, and diverts scarce resources away from its naval modernization. Read Here – […]
The divisions in Egypt are deep. Whereas reconciliation had seemed possible, though difficult, until last week, there are now two irreconcilable camps facing off against each other: the military and its secular supporters, on one side, and the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters, on the other. The young activists and the liberals no longer play […]
Always remember mornings like these, the next time police officers and politicians demand more powers to protect us from terrorism. They always sound so reasonable and so concerned for our welfare when they do. For who wants to be blown apart? Read here – The Spectator
Since 2010, global financial circles have been obsessing about China’s slowing economy. But, while the country barely met the official target of 7.5% annual GDP growth in the second quarter of this year – generating significant anxiety worldwide – China’s government seemingly remains calm, showing no indication that it plans to launch yet another stimulus […]
