Main Banner Image

Pre-election Budget 2023-24: Short on extravagance, long on substance

The Union Budget presented earlier this month was the last full-year budget before next year's general elections. Rajat Kathuria looks back to India's economic performance in 2014 and suggests that th...

  • Perspectives

Budget 2023-24: Fiscally conservative but lacking economic strategy

The Indian economy’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has not been all good news: employment creation has stagnated, and government capex allocation has not been successful in generating private ...

  • Perspectives

Budget 2023-24: Some good and no harm

Following the budget speech, Deepak Mishra weighs in on the extent to which the three goals of higher growth, better distribution, and stability were met. He discusses the Finance Minister’s success...

  • Perspectives
Refine list by:
--Please Select--
--Please Select--

Subsidies, merit goods, and fiscal space - II

In Part I of this two-part series, the authors presented their estimates of total budget subsidies, and their merit and non-merit components. In this part, they discuss the relationship between subsid...

  • Perspectives

Subsidies, merit goods, and fiscal space - I

Mundle and Sikdar argue that rationalisation of the prevailing large volume of non-merit subsidies should constitute a major component of deep fiscal reforms in India. Doing so could free up the fisca...

  • Perspectives

What would make India’s growth sustainable?

Much of the discussion on the economic slowdown in India in recent years – as well as on the government’s measures to tackle the present economic crisis due to the Covid-19 lockdown – is focused...

  • Perspectives

Covid-19: Assessing vulnerabilities faced by microenterprises

In India, where microenterprises form a crucial foundation for livelihoods and employment, the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown can potentially be significant. Based on the first wave of a dynamic, mu...

  • Notes from the Field

Covid-19: Recession in India, and policy lessons from other countries

Given the prevailing economic situation in India and following the past experience of several developed countries, there is a clamour for accepting much larger fiscal deficits, and adopting unconventi...

  • Perspectives

Covid-19: Conditions on state borrowing need a rethink

States have been in the firing line in the battle to save lives and livelihoods from the impact of Covid-19. However, the loss of economic activity following the nationwide lockdown, has wreaked havoc...

  • Perspectives

Does easing controls on foreign borrowing boost firm performance?

The literature shows that rigid capital-control policies adversely influence international trade, but overlooks the relationships among access to external financing, firm-level productivity, and expor...

  • Articles

Unmaking ‘Make in India’

The current government has attempted to improve India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business Indicators, but with limited success. This article shows that ‘deals’ between the State and b...

  • Articles

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan: Putting the cart before the horse

In an attempt to tackle the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, Government of India announced a Rs. 20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan financial package, equivalent to 10% of Ind...

  • Perspectives

The supply-side effects of India’s demonetisation

What were the effects of the 2016 Indian demonetisation that removed 86% of currency in circulation overnight, on the production side of the economy? By combining data from financial statements and su...

  • Articles

Webinar video: The Covid-19 shock

The Covid-19 pandemic and the containment measures adopted to check the spread of the disease, have caused an unprecedented economic crisis in India as well as the rest of the world. Further, India is...

  • Videos

Protectionism and Statism, once again

In this post, Ajit Karnik argues that, at a broad strategic level, the Indian government has displayed a disconcerting shift towards protectionism and Statism over the last few months. While discussin...

  • Perspectives

Recent Contributors

Rajeswari

Rajeswari Sengupta

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research

Rajat

Rajat Kathuria

Shiv Nadar University

Amartya

Amartya Lahiri

University of British Columbia

Viral

Viral Acharya

New York University

Yamini

Yamini Aiyar

Centre for Policy Research

I4I

I4I Team

Ideas for India

View all Contributors

Most Popular Macroeconomics Posts

Land in India: Market price vs. fundamental value

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015, is focused on protecting the few home buyers who can afford to buy homes but does not address the issue of high land prices, which is a very se...

  • Articles

Land records and titles in India

Land ownership is broadly determined by access to a land title, which protects the rights of the title-holder, and impacts livelihoods, and industrial, economic, and social growth. However, land title...

  • Perspectives

Covid-19: Macroeconomic implications for India

Due to the measures adopted to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), especially social distancing and lockdown, non-essential expenditures are being postponed. This is causing...

  • Perspectives