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Posts by Arvind Subramanian

An Indian trade paradox

India’s trading partners often complain about the restrictiveness of India’s trade regime. This column argues that they are both right and wrong. While India´s economy is ‘closed’ in terms of...

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Why taxing property is essential for local government accountability

With rapid decentralisation and urbanisation, wealth is increasingly vested and locked up in land and property in India. In their previous article, Kapur and Subramanian emphasised the importance of ...

  • Perspectives

Taxation's fatal neglect?

Today, the public discourse on government finances in India is largely focused on spending. This article emphasises the importance of taxes, particularly income tax, in ensuring citizen participation...

  • Perspectives

Four changes to trade rules to facilitate climate change action

Global climate cooperation has collapsed but the need for action has not disappeared. This column argues that only radical technological progress can reconcile climate-change goals with development. ...

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India's unique crisis - a short term fix

While the current turbulence in the Indian economy bears a resemblance to the situation of other emerging economies, it is unique when compared with historical experiences of economic crises. In thei...

  • Perspectives

India's unique crisis

While the current turbulence in the Indian economy bears a resemblance to the situation of other emerging economies, it is unique when compared with historical experiences of economic crises. In the ...

  • Perspectives

The Reserve Bank's mission impossible?

India’s current inflation is unprecedentedly high – not in absolute terms but relative to the rest of the world. This article discusses the role of inflation in the recent currency crisis, and ar...

  • Perspectives

What saved the rupee?

This article analyses the dramatic fall of the rupee between May and August this year, and its recovery thereafter. It asserts that it was primarily external factors and an unconventional interventio...

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Underperforming even in good times

The late Professor Raj Krishna´s term ‘Hindu growth rate’ was an aptly pejorative description of India´s economic performance in the post-independence period. But how has India performed in the ...

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India's disputed ruling on pharmaceuticals and patents

On April 1 2013, the Supreme Court of India rejected the attempt by Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, to patent a new version of the leukemia drug Glivec. The verdict follows previous rulin...

  • Perspectives

Why Nations Fail: And why India and China don’t fit the story

‘Why Nations Fail’ by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson is becoming a must-read for development economists. But this column argues that the central thesis of the book fails to explain two big deve...

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US-China relations: Role reversal will slow climate change

This column proposes a new approach to climate change that involves China, and eventually other developing countries, offering inducements to the West to take steps to foster a private-sector led gree...

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