Opinion

Let’s start with Urjit Patel, the former governor, who left the RBI like a bat out of hell. A bat, though, is not a bird. This meeting was his swan song, which I suppose makes him a swan, though a rather unlikely one. Some have said a goose would be more appropriate because his goose was cooked, but the flaw in that reasoning is he wasn’t cooked but his goose was, although there’s some difference of opinion on that. The government, of course, has no doubt whatsoever that he was an albatross around its neck. … [Read more...] about Opinion | Bird Watching at the Reserve Bank of India

What exactly is a ‘development state’? Simply put, it is the hugely successful model of state-directed development seen in the East Asian countries, many of which went from poverty to prosperity within a generation or two. The government plays a big role in this transformation, putting in place the policies needed for rapid capital accumulation and in guiding the private sector to achieve the objectives set by the state. It is in contrast to the free-wheeling capitalism of the US or the UK. … [Read more...] about Opinion | Niti Aayog wants to make India a development state, but it’s a tall order

Is it just a scare then, an excuse to book profits? Or has something changed fundamentally? One thing that seems to have changed is the stance of the US Federal Reserve. Its chairman Jerome Powell appears unfazed by the tantrums thrown by the market. His remark that the contraction of the US Fed’s balance sheet is on autopilot is not music to investors’ ears. Donald Trump has threatened to fire him for derailing the economy. … [Read more...] about Opinion | What spooked global markets?

But while predicting the price of oil is a lot like reading sheep’s entrails, can we at least predict its direction? As far as demand goes, there is little doubt the US growth cycle is getting long in the tooth. Commenting on the US Flash PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) data for December, Chris Williamson, chief economist at IHSMarkit said, ‘although growth remains relatively robust, momentum is being lost and is likely to continue to fade as we move into 2019’. The Eurozone Composite Flash PMI for December came in at a four-year low. Chinese growth too is slowing and industrial profits there have dropped for the first time in three years. … [Read more...] about Opinion | Economic outlook for 2019: Will the elephants in the room turn out to be mice?

To Rome with Love five years ago. Anybody familiar with Allen has known for decades that he married his partner Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, and that his movies often feature ineffectual Allen surrogates lusting after inappropriately young nymphs of mystic charm. But in 2014, after her father received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, Dylan Farrow wrote an open letter published in The New York Times, in which she brought allegations that had first emerged in 1993 back to the forefront of the cultural conversation. Lines were drawn. Every actor affiliated with Allen was soon asked to comment on Farrow’s letter. (Scarlett Johansson: “It would be ridiculous for me to make any kind of assumption one way or the other.” Diane Keaton: “I believe my friend.”) Since there was no resolution, many fans and actors just quietly made the decision that it was okay not to believe Farrow. Allen went on to release three … [Read more...] about Time’s Up, Woody Allen