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| February 28, 2009 | | Slumdogs and fat cat bankers
Mesmerised by the cinematic kitsch of Mumbai's underbelly, Americans are seeking palliatives to the horror stories tumbling out of the Byzantine world of investment banking.
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| February 26, 2009 | | Of government's misdirected stimuli
How many of these so-named stimuli packages are indirectly or directly aimed at stimulating the poll prospects of the ruling United Progressiva Alliance can be a subject of many conjectures.
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| February 25, 2009 | | Sachs's initiative to end poverty
The fight to end poverty sometimes looks like an industry that depends on the poor's impoverished state for its own survival. Jeffrey Sachs's book End of Poverty is a jolt to shake us out of that rut.
Are we in the Montek monetisation moment?
The RBI's big decision is not how much to ease but whether to monetise the fiscal deficit.
UPA: When expectations aren't managed
The state of the economy did not deteriorate so sharply in the last eight days that the principles behind not announcing changes in tax rates in an Interim Budget had to be set aside. Nor can it be argued that the demand from industry and members of Parliament for some stimulus measures became so irresistible that the finance minister had to announce the tax rate changes in his reply to the Interim Budget debate.
Government is from Mars, RBI from Venus
Indian policymakers have more to learn about the art of communicating with financial markets.
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| February 24, 2009 | | Recession: Worse yet to come?
The worst of recession could coincide with the run-up to the elections.
Of global crisis and geo-political consequences
The US will find it difficult to maintain the sinews of the forces that have held the global order together.
Where have all the savings gone?
It seems to be the correct course for an economy which is officially slated to contract by over 2 per cent this year (though some economists are predicting a much harsher contraction of 10 per cent) with a budget deficit of 8 per cent.
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| February 20, 2009 | | The deadly mix of greed, lax oversight, 'short-termism'
The global financial crisis is really the consequence of an excessively short-term outlook, propelled by greed and unstopped by regulation. The short-termism is due to several factors, not least of which is the enormous growth, in the past three decades, of the mutual fund industry.
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| February 19, 2009 | | How companies can be more honest
More is not necessarily better. And, while the moral brigade may be unhappy about this, revealing more -- though less often -- may be the best solution for giving investors the true picture of financial statements and accounts of Indian companies.
Business in India is still a political game
Many businessmen have extracted generous concessions from one government, only to see their businesses at risk when it is replaced by another, less friendly regime.
Financial crisis: Regulators favour the wealthy
Those who are responsible for the present mess are in charge of the clean-up.
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| February 16, 2009 | | Has UPA let an opportunity pass it by?
Given the debilitating effects of the economic slowdown on various industry sectors and indeed on the nation's GDP growth, the government would have been well within its right to push through a populist budget under the garb of not letting the country's economy drift till such time as a new government is put in place after the general elections.
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| February 14, 2009 | | A man who made money out of lingerie
Muthalik's done for panties what bra-burning did for lingerie sales.
Rich and the 'Third World'
The economy keeps chugging along on the back of massive international borrowing, on a scale that is generally recognised as unsustainable. As a consequence, it has an abysmal savings-GDP ratio.
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| February 13, 2009 | | Energy conservation: Only lectures won't do
The rich world continues to give lectures on energy conservation. But what is it doing itself?
Getting real on realty
If the real estate majors don't get real, they could soon be in line for another bailout next year, or even earlier.
Corporate governance: Towards a higher truth!
The role of audit committees and independent directors and the levels of responsibility as well as the limits to their accountability will come under greater scrutiny in future with the negative fallout likely to be a greater reluctance on the part of professionals and academicians of repute to participate on company boards and chair audit committees.
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| February 12, 2009 | | 'India needs a Swadeshi development model'
, Bharatiya Janata Party stalwart and leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, addressed the 81st annual general meeting of the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Thursday. In his speech, Advani makes a strong case for Swadeshi, creatively redefined, as a model of development to benefit Bharat, and not just India.
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| February 11, 2009 | | Coming soon: Capitalism 3.0
Those who predict capitalism's demise overlook its historical malleability, says .
Why interim budgets are irrelevant
Economic reforms have remained an article of faith for all the governments at the Centre in the last 18 years, irrespective of the political parties that formed them.
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| February 09, 2009 | | A house of my own
Rented housing and fixed rents, like it's in developed countries, could be one way to ensure that everyone in cities has a roof over his head.
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| February 06, 2009 | | A Satyam employee writes, from the heart
At a time when almost 90 per cent of my Satyam friends are cribbing about the fraud and betrayal by (former Satyam chairman) B Ramalinga Raju, I have a slightly different opinion.
No hope in sight yet for US economy
What leads to a rapid worsening of the fiscal balance is not, as is commonly believed, the cost of bailing out financial institutions. Rather, it is the drastic decline in tax revenues as a result of output contraction and the ambitious fiscal stimulus package aimed at kick-starting the economy that cause fiscal deficits to explode, says .
H-1B visa: How to apply, and more
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B visa petitions for the fiscal year 2010 from Wednesday, April 1, 2009. Read on to find out all you wanted to know about H-1B visas.
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| January 31, 2009 | | How to prime the sub-prime
A first-hand account of how global banks got into the mess they're in.
Satyam: A fairy tale warning
Re-constructing what Mr Raju did, that was the key shortcoming in his plan for grand larceny. The more you think of what has happened to Satyam and its jailed chairman, the more obvious it becomes that the problem was the failure to realise that while he might get away with stealing eggs, the goose itself should not be killed.
Why they love Narendra Modi
Industrialists benefit unduly from the Gujarat CM's largesse. Should they care about the decline in the social sector?
Audit lessons to learn from Satyam
Joint audits and inspections by the ICAI/DCA are critical if the system has to work.
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| January 27, 2009 | | Surgery for PM, band-aid for the economy?
We need to fall back to a more predictable and reliable exchange rate mechanism rather than one that encourages volatility or a fixed exchange rate system that allows build-up of pressure points (inflation for instance) in other sectors of the economy.
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| January 21, 2009 | | RCom's free talk-time strategy
Reliance Communications' third entry into the telecom business, starting with the time it was run under a different name when the Ambanis were an undivided group, has predictably got the mobile industry in a tizzy.
Innovation in the time of slowdown
Given its emerging economic size and stock of soft resources, India is a laggard when it comes to innovation.
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| January 20, 2009 | | Fixing those castles in the air
Economists cautioned against squandering stimulus measures by providing fresh tax breaks for businesses. Instead, they pressed for more investments in infrastructure
Why recession insurance will work
It might help alleviate the economic crisis by addressing the root cause of the unwillingness to spend, says .
The dilemma over Satyam's 'bailout'
Two contradictory remarks by ministers caused wild fluctuations in Satyam's stock. Why did they make them?
The two faces of corporate dishonesty
Businessmen have clearly two kinds of rules and values, one for what they think they can't or should not do and second, what they are entitled to or at least their companies are.
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| January 19, 2009 | | Why wasn't anyone listening to Metroman Sreedharan?
'Given the Satyam scandal, is it too much to ask that Sreedharan's allegations should finally be taken seriously? And that while we are about it, how about taking another look at all the other BOT projects undertaken by Maytas Infra?'
Investigate the Ministry of Company Affairs!
A good example of just how little comes to light are the series of serious allegations made by the Ambani scions in their fight over the years of wrongdoing by each other - none of these are anything that the MCA came up with, nor have they been seriously investigated afterwards.
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| January 17, 2009 | | Lessons to learn from Satyam
The passing of the Companies Bill which contains a slew of governance measures is vital.
Recession: No end in sight
The recession in the advanced countries could continue for a while yet.
Once he's out, society will embrace Raju
Raju need not fear ostracism once he's out - society will embrace him. Size is a national obsession. Indians have stashed away more than anyone else -- a noble $1,456 billion -- in Swiss banks. We thrive on superlatives. Even Jawaharlal Nehru rejoiced in the Suratgarh farm being "the biggest farm in Asia".
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| January 16, 2009 | | Indian capitalism has always had a criminal side
'Our corporate nabobs often milk their companies by appointing procurement and distribution agents, by under- and over-invoicing imports/exports, evading taxes, indulging in insider trading, and dressing up balance-sheets. Satyam fits this pattern, which is widely prevalent in most brick-and-mortar companies.'
India's retail story: What's gone wrong
Even as retail consultants continue to roll out the slide about the bright prospects for modern trade, on the ground, sales are sliding
Will Satyam lead to a change?
Those involved in Satyam have also been fudging carbon credits but they get away as there is no penalty. Ever
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| January 14, 2009 | | Why Indians keep flouting rules
India Inc. may also have fallen prey to the so-called eleventh commandment of modern-day India: Thou shalt not be caught.
Balance sheets: How to ensure credibility
The Securities and Exchange Board of India's decision to subject all Nifty and Sensex companies to a peer review of their accounting statements, may not be a bad idea, if some pitfalls are avoided.
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| January 13, 2009 | | Macroeconomic policy lessons for the next crisis
We must use the crisis to find the sensible middle ground between finance fetishism on the one hand, and status quo statism on the other.
First fortnight of 09: Tumultous indeed!
There can be no serious argument for not having an independent regulator in every sector. Regulators in a sector are akin to independent directors on the board of a company who ensure that the game is played by some rules.
Global crisis: A time to experiment
As the global economic crisis deepens, policymakers need to shed received wisdom and act pragmatically.
End of oil strike: Credit goes to govt
Given how the brief strike by state-owned oil sector officers raised the spectre of a fuel drought across the country, the government deserves to be congratulated for deciding to take tough action and threaten to arrest striking officers, since this is what finally broke the strike. The fact that the emoluments of some of the striking workers were made public didn't help their case either, since these showed the managers to be amongst the better-paid in the public sector.
IIP better? It's an optical illusion
The overall index showed an increase of 2.4 per cent over November 2007, which is not a great performance but apparently different from the 1.4 per cent decline in the previous month. However, the base effect seems to be largely responsible for both numbers.
It's time for Satya
The Satyam case will decide whether he has been a successful minister or not.
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| January 12, 2009 | | Satyam loses, but markets triumph
Though the Satyam episode was shocking, the markets will move on, placing greater premium on good managements and governance and punishing companies that don't inspire confidence
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| January 09, 2009 | | The Satyam scandal: Now what?
What is the solution to problems like this? It is probably not more intrusive government regulation. Despite the noises being made in America blaming all finance-sector problems on a lax regulatory environment, it is not clear that more paperwork is the answer.
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| January 08, 2009 | | India's Enron
The fact that Satyam's reputed auditors kept quiet while it cooked its books is reminiscent of the Enron-Andersen days.
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| January 05, 2009 | | Lessons from the Satyam saga
This episode showed the maturity of Indian markets. They reward transparency and punish the lack of it.
The problems with 3G auction
Even more curious, while the law says foreigners can have only up to 74 per cent equity in a telecom firm in India, the 3G Information Memorandum says foreigners can bid without having Indian partners if they win the bid, they can then set up an Indian firm and comply with the rules.
Outlook for markets in 2009
Despite a gloomy macroeconomic environment, 2009 is unlikely to be as bad as the previous year.
The need for a tax revolt
The poor have been voicing their anger for decades but no one notices them.
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| January 02, 2009 | | In defence of Satyam
I would say it was unwise, but not necessarily wicked. I suggest that Satyam was ill-served by its M&A investment bankers and lawyers regarding the public-relations backlash such a move would cause
Of brands and advertising 2008
Celebrity craze has been a part of advertising-dom for years, but 2008 saw brands upping the ante on stars to go bigger and larger in numbers
Will the aviation sector recover in 2009?
If one goes by IATA's prediction, the pain should be halved in this year.
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