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Changing role of Hindi Cinema: From fostering national integration & unity to peddling hate & disunity | Mostly Economics
It i quite incredible to see how Hindi cinema has changed over the years. There was a time when the leading directors and actors came together to make movies to foster unity and national integration. Those times were really difficult with the country suffering from frictions and conflicts everywhere. The cinema ecosystem realised they could…
Comparing monetary policy approaches of five central banks | Mostly Economics
Florian Böser, Antoine Martin and Sabrina Stadelmann compare Monetary Policy approaches of five central banks: Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Sveriges Riksbank and Swiss National Bank. several major central banks have adopted diverse approaches to implementing monetary policy. These approaches are tailored to their unique set of circumstances and arguably cover the…
KIIT crisis: No response/concern by Minstry of Education or Ministry of External Affairs | Mostly Economics
The crisis in KIIT continues to brew hampering careers and studies of several students. One would have ideally seen some concern by Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Education. But neither their websites (Ministry of Education, Ministry of External Affairs) nor social media handles (Ministry of Education, Ministry of External Affairs) have a single…
Quality of Public Expenditure and its Socio-economic Impact in India | Mostly Economics
Rachit Solanki, Kovuri Akash Yadav, Aayushi Khandelwal, Samir Ranjan Behera, and Atri Mukherjee in this new RBI article analye the impact of govt expenditure on Indian economy: Against the backdrop of emphasis on capital expenditure by both the Centre and States, this article examines the evolution of India’s public expenditure trends since liberalisation. It underscores…
Are we underestimating changes in financial markets? | Mostly Economics
Andrew Bailey, Governor of Bank of England in this speech says we are underestimating changes in financial markets: In conclusion, my title today posed the question: “Are we underestimating changes in financial markets?” You may have decided by now that my answer to this question is yes. Moreover, the pace of change shows no signs…
Trump’s First Order on Federal Reserve Independence: Monetary Policy Yes, Banking Supervision No | Mostly Economics
Trump Administration is taking on one instititution at a time. It is the turn of Federal Reserve now. I had argued earlier that central bank independence will face a very stern test under Trump Presidency. The President order on Independent Federal Agencies released on 18 Feb 2025 says President will now get more say in…
RBI launches RBIDATA, a Mobile App for macro and financial data | Mostly Economics
An interesting initiative by RBI: Today, the Reserve Bank of India launched RBIDATA, a Mobile App, that offers macroeconomic and financial statistics relating to the Indian economy in a user-friendly and visually engaging format. The key features of the app include: Access to over 11,000 different series of economic data to give a comprehensive view of…
Plight of Indian student: Theory and Reality of Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner | Mostly Economics
Imagine the plight of India's school students. This is exam season and students are preparing for their exams. The students of Indian civics and politics study about the importance of Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in conducting India's elections. They will read how the independence and impartuality of ECI and…
Failure of New India Cooperative Bank: New India, old problems | Mostly Economics
Last week, RBI superseded the Board of New India Cooperative Bank. FE argues that it is New India and Old Problems asking for a comprehensive audit of coop banks in India. The Annual Report 2023-24 shows that bank was in deep trouble. New India Coop Bank has a fascinating history. It was found in 1968…
How Climate Denial is Fueling a U.S. Homeowners Insurance Crisis and Risking a 2008-Style Financial Meltdown | Mostly Economics
Lynn Parramore of INET warns on how ignoring climate risks will lead to another major financial crisis like the one in 2008: Everyone’s freaking out about soaring homeowner’s insurance costs in the wake of devastating California fires. Right now popular anger focuses mostly on greedy insurance companies, but is that the whole story? Are they…
The Value of Piped Water and Sewers: Evidence from 19th Century Chicago | Mostly Economics
Michael Coury, Toru Kitagawa, Allison Shertzer & Matthew Turner in this Philadelphia Fed paper: We estimate the impact of piped water and sewers on property values in late 19th century Chicago. The cost of sewer construction depends sensitively on imperceptible variation in elevation, and such variation delays water and sewer service to part of the city. This…
The first generation of African-American PhDs in Economics | Mostly Economics
Malcolm Rutherford in this paper writes on history of first African-Americans PhDs in economics: This paper deals with the history of the African Americans who gained PhDs in economics from the first in 1921 until 1943. Roughly the first generation of African Americans with doctorates in economics. The numbers were extremely small until the late…
KIIT tragedy | Mostly Economics
It is shocking to read about set of events at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT). KIIT management first tried to coverup the tragedy with a Nepal student and then allowed it to blow into a full fledged diplomatic crisis between India and Nepal. Of late, we are seeing how students studying in foreign countries…
The path to American Authoritarianism | Mostly Economics
Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way in this Foreign Affairs article discusses how Trump 2.0 paves the way for American Authoritarianism. Under Trump 1.0, democracy survived as Trump did not control the Republican leaders. Under Trmp 2.0, things are different as Trump not just conrtols the party but also has all loyalists in his team who…
RBI’s conflicting objectives: Focus on inflation, growth over exchange rate | Mostly Economics
The more things change the more the remain the same. There was a time when RBI did not have an inflation target. The RBI was criticised for managing multiple objectives leading to contradictions. One major contradiction was managing inflation and exchange rates. If the central bank was easing policy and intervening to mitigate rupee depreciation,…
Charles Kindleberger, the Dollar System, and Financial Crises | Mostly Economics
Laurent Le Maux reviews Perry Mehrling's book: Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System: When Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve, opened the September 16, 2008 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, he tabled a new procedure for liquidity…
Labour in the AI era: Crisis or catalyst? | Mostly Economics
The final chapter in Economic Survey 2024-25 analyes the AI impact on employment: The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) presents both unprecedented opportunities and significant challenges for labor markets worldwide. In this context, as policymakers, it is important to pay attention to the evolving technological landscape and the potential impact it can have on…
When Big Business Influences the State and Foreign Policy in India | Mostly Economics
Prof Amit Julka of Ashoka University in this TheIndiaForum article discusses how big business shapes India's foreign policy today: Neoliberalism has empowered India’s big capital to control the state, reversing an earlier relationship. Capital, once subordinate and nationally defined, now dominates and defines the nation, using the state to advance its global business interests. This…
Rupee’s Future and History with Bazil Shaikh | Mostly Economics
Puja Mehra talks to Bazil Shaikh in this excellent podcast episode on Rupee’s Future and History: In this episode, journalist Puja Mehra is joined by Bazil Shaikh, former RBI official and author of the book The Conjurors Trick An Interpretive History Of Paper Money In India. They discuss the history and evolution of the rupee,…
Will the future generations of India earn lesser than older generations? | Mostly Economics
In the post-budget interview, economist Rathin Roy raises a big concern. He says perhaps for the first time future generations of India will earn less than previous generations. Rathin Roy in this post-budget article points to this interesting bit on the Income Tax relief in the recent budget. In FY25, a person had to earn…
Robert Menzies and the creation of the Reserve Bank of Australia | Mostly Economics
Selwyn Cornish of RBA writes how Reserve Bank of Australia was carved out from Commonwealth Bank amidst much drama and discussion: The Reserve Bank of Australia was created in 1959 by separating the commercial and central banking functions of the original Commonwealth Bank of Australia. An attempt in 1930 to establish a separate central bank…
A new low for Indian media: Look for right persectives amidst deaths | Mostly Economics
It is shocking to read this Times of India editorial on the Kumbh mela deaths: When we mourn deaths in big, newsy events like Kumbh, we must also look for the right perspective Yesterday, around 100mn Kumbh devotees had been expected to take a holy dip. Overall, 450mn devotees are expected, dwarfing the US population. Most accounts…
Manmohan Singh: India’s finest talent scout | Mostly Economics
Shreyas Narla, Shruti Rajagopalan, and Kadambari Shah writes how Manmohan Singh was India's finest talent scout. Economists live and die by a mantra: resources must flow to their highest-valued use. Manmohan Singh embraced this idea as he steered the Indian economy out of command-and-control and into a market system. But he also applied it in…
Did RBI manage the Rupee exchange rate to help select oligarchs? | Mostly Economics
It is the oligarchy season. Everything seems to be either determined by oligarches or policies determine for oligarches. There has been a fervent debate on India's exchange rate policy. Economists have written that India's exchnage rate is not being allowed to be driven by markets. The exchange rate should be depreciating more than is currently…
Takers not makers: Today’s oligarch billionaires are like colonisers of the past? | Mostly Economics
Oxfam has released a report reviving dark history of colonialism. They say the rise in wealth amidst few billionaires is similar to colonialism. These billionaires (soon going to be trillionaires) are just takers and not makers: Billionaire wealth has risen three times faster in 2024 than 2023. Five trillionaires are now expected within a decade.…
Origins and foundations of central bank independence | Mostly Economics
Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS on Central bank independence: Central bank independence is a fundamental component of the social arrangements aimed at preserving trust in the value of money and keeping inflation under control. A comprehensive overview of the widespread acceptance of central bank independence and its historical evolution highlights its multifaceted nature,…
80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz: Warnings from history | Mostly Economics
On 27 January 1945, Russian soldiers entered Auschwitz to learn of the Nazi horrors and the holocaust. Apparently 1.3 million people of the 6 million were killed in this camp alone. On the 80th anniversay of liberation, the survivors narrated their horror tales which serve as serious warnings from history. Auschwitz Memorial Xed/tweeted: Auschwitz was…
SEBI launches ‘Dharohar Milestones in the Indian Securities Market’: A Digital Knowledge Repository | Mostly Economics
SEBI has recently launched Dharohar: Milestone in Indian Securities Markets. SEBI's Press Release states: Today, on the occasion of Republic Day, SEBI has launched a digital knowledge repository, “Dharohar- Milestones in the Indian Securities Market”. The Indian securities market, known for its diverse products, participants, and institutions, has a long standing history of organized trading…
Growth of Individual Investors in Indian securities market | Mostly Economics
Kalyani H, Shyni Sunil and Prabhas Kumar Rath in this SEBI Bulletin article discuss the growth of individual investors in Indian securities market: Indian securities market, particularly post the COVID pandemic, witnessed a spectacular increase in the growth of demat accounts. To a scertain whether the rise in demat accounts represents actual addition of new investors,…
A Teacher Writes to Students Series (37): Common Good | Mostly Economics
A Teacher Writes to Students Series (37): Common Good Annavajhula J C Bose, PhD Department of Economics (Retd.), SRCC, DU What is common good or commonweal? Do you know? “In philosophy, economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, general welfare, or public interest and benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for…
Today’s electoral outcomes are shaped by donors and not voters | Mostly Economics
Thomas Ferguson, currently Director of Research at the Institute for New Economic Thinking explains today's electoral outcomes and rise of right wing politics in US. He says American politics is driven by Investment theory of politics: What explains the American party system’s continued rightward drift? On this question few analysts have offered insights as trenchant…
Dismantling India’s license raj: Role of technocratic economists | Mostly Economics
Douglas Irwin in this paper says key reason for India's 1991 reforms was role of technocratic economists: In July 1991, India began to dismantle its long-standing, highly restrictive import control regime and move toward a more open economy. How were policymakers able to dislodge and replace an entrenched system with powerful vested interests behind it?…
Building national identity in France | Mostly Economics
Guillaume Blanc and Masahiro Kubo in this paper study how France built its national identity: This paper studies nation-building in a fragmented society. We document the adoption of a common language and the construction of a national identity in France. Using a natural experiment and drawing on a novel dataset on the languages spoken across…
The Bank of England’s statutory monetary policy objectives: a historical and legal account | Mostly Economics
Michael Salib and Mesha Ghazaleh document the legal history of Bank of England's monetary policy objectives: The Bank’s monetary policy objectives are among the most significant statutory objectives bestowed by Parliament on any UK public authority. The objectives make the Bank responsible for maintaining price stability and, subject to that, for supporting the government’s economic…
A typewriter in a smartphone world: has first-class cricket become irrelevant in India? | Mostly Economics
There was a time when you tracked First Class cricket in India (and in other cricket playing countries) to figure who is likely to make debut for India (and other countries). One knew records of Ranji players across different States and followed Rani matches avidly. Not anymore. India Test player Abhinav Mukund writes what we…
10 years of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: Moving beyond slogans | Mostly Economics
Of all the government programs nothing angers me more than all these so called programs on women and girls. All these programs which are aimed at improving the lives of women have a common theme: just throw money at the problem and behave all is well. But do nothing about the dignity and identity of women.…
Restoring names that honor American greatness | Mostly Economics
It is all so familiar. All these leaders that promise greatness to a nation and say how it will be a new country come up with beaten and stale ideas. One such stale idea is change names of cities and geographic locations. It could be a new name or an old ancient name. The idea…