Monetary Policy: The tight rope walk

The monetary policy review announced by the RBI was like a much awaited blockbuster – well, going bust! Speculation was rife which way will the RBI swing – will it cut the rates further amidst talks of slowing growth and the economy facing harsh and critical reviews from global rating agencies or given the runaway…

Budget 2012: A stab wound to the golden goose

The economy has slowed down considerably in the last year following high inflation, rising interest rates, shrinking consumer budgets and dwindling corporate profits. Both Industry and Consumer were looking at the finance minister to give them some relief. But what they have got is more financial nightmare in store. The budget promises a lot for…

Rahul Dravid: Nice guys are no pushovers.

In a country where sports is seen as an activity to refresh your mind after hours of study, a kid growing up to be a commerce graduate, taking up sports as a profession and bringing the world to its knees is not something that belongs to the ordinary league. Top that up with suave personality,…

Dealing with pain

Pain is bad. This is something we have grown up with. Something that our mind and body is tuned to. But the reality of life is that pain cannot be wished away. It cannot be ignored. It has to be dealt with. What makes pain even more painful is that fact that we try to…

UP Election Verdict: An Analysis

So finally the elections in Uttar Pradesh are over. It has been an intriguing affair as no one was willing to put forward a prediction for this one, with no apparent ‘leher’ in favour of any party. A hung parliament was the most expected outcome, given the jungle of caste and religious constituencies in the…

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 43,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 16 sold-out performances for that many…

Is SENSEX a barometer of the Indian Economy?

This question has been asked by many of my students. I also hear such lines in many discussions over the economy ranging from tea stalls, dinner parties to business school boardrooms – “SENSEX is going down, economy is not good”!, How justified is it in thinking that movements in SENSEX reflects the state of the…

Why is inflation slowing economic growth?

In the recent days, there have been ample signs that the Indian economy has entered a phase where its economic growth has begun to show signs of a slowdown. GDP growth estimates from various quarters have entered the zone of 7-7.5 percent from the highs of 8-8.5 percent in the last 3-4 years. The Index…