Faith versus forethought: India’s amateur investors are taking outsized risks
Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:00:09 ISTThey’re buying shares even as foreign institutions pull out of India’s stock market. The country’s retail investment revolution needs policy-level attention—before mass disappointment wreaks damage.
Ray Dalio Cites 1930s Germany to Assess Unfolding Trade War
Wed, 12 Mar 2025 09:01:07 ISTBillionaire investor Ray Dalio invoked 1930s Germany to illustrate his concerns about the global implications of the current trade war, while highlighting how countries that are neutral will fare well during such conflicts.
Arming up: ‘Be Indian, buy Indian’ is a useful mantra for strategic autonomy
Wed, 12 Mar 2025 07:30:01 ISTBeing a big-budget importer of arms does have its advantages in world affairs, but India needs to pace up indigenous weapon development for its defence. Our record on this front is too patchy.
Mint Quick Edit | Starlink’s entry to India: Foster rivalry in this market
Wed, 12 Mar 2025 07:00:18 ISTAirtel has announced a deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring Starlink satellite internet services to India. While remote connectivity is a worthy goal, we must also ensure competition in this space.
Let’s use Assembly Theory to regulate rapidly evolving technologies
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 16:00:11 ISTTechnological complexity in digital spheres keeps growing. We need regulatory frameworks that evolve in lock-step with the evolution of technologies. We’ll get better outcomes. Here’s how.
How Trump Could Win, and Deserve, a Nobel Peace Prize
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 15:27:17 ISTAverting a nuclear arms race with successful talks among the US, Russia and China is something that the president might just pull off.
Free-market conservatives are now an endangered species in America
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 15:00:10 ISTUnder the leadership of Donald Trump, the US Republican Party has more or less turned its back on free-market economics. This divide is reflected among its supporters too. But a grand reckoning at some point is inevitable.
As India’s consumption landscape evolves, we must strengthen our economic recovery
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 14:00:09 ISTTrends over the past two decades reveal both progress and persistent inequalities. With covid largely behind us, our policy focus should now be on inclusive growth, financial security and leveraging a digital transformation.
Businesses should be clear about what they’re deploying AI for
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 12:30:07 ISTStandalone AI subscriptions are hardly selling and chatbots are reaching parity. For adopters, business differentiation will rely less on having the most advanced AI and more on making it play to their strengths.
America First: Trump’s trade aggression could trigger another eurozone crisis
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 12:00:06 ISTThat could hit the US financial system too, as we saw during the Greek debt crisis, but should Trump go ahead anyway, Europe should take up Mario Draghi’s proposals and focus squarely on its global competitiveness.
Homeowners Weren't Meant to Be Feudal Serfs
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 10:47:32 ISTThe UK’s Labour government promises to phase out an unfair system of home ownership whose time has long passed.
IPO slump: Stock market indices flashing red shouldn’t stop public offers
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 07:30:16 ISTIndia’s stock market correction has slowed down the public issuance of shares. Risk-off investor behaviour, however, doesn’t mean value offers will be overlooked. Confident issuers should go ahead with their IPOs.
Mint Quick Edit | Deflation is bad news for China’s economy
Tue, 11 Mar 2025 07:00:13 ISTFalling prices tend to weaken demand, hurt growth and deter credit uptake—all of which can form a doom loop. Will Beijing’s fiscal stimulus fend off that threat? Factory cutbacks may be needed too.
Trade war: How best to brace for the return of ‘beggar thy neighbour’ policies
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:00:07 ISTMexico and Canada must hope US domestic lobbies restrain Trump’s tariffs. Big exporter China needs to up efficiency. India could use America’s ‘reciprocal tariff’ approach to its trade advantage.
Only English please: Trump’s language order isn’t just symbolism
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 15:00:05 ISTA variety of languages have long been spoken in the US. Trump’s U-turn on multilingualism—which Clinton had encouraged for the sake of diversity—looks like just another arrow in his anti-immigrant quiver.
Tribunal reforms hold the key to efficient dispute resolution in India
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 14:00:04 ISTThe performance of tribunals has been abysmal, but this need not be so. Much depends on the autonomy they’re given to function effectively as quasi-judicial bodies that can relieve courts of their case burden.
Ajit Ranade: India must formulate a strategy to boost agricultural exports
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 12:30:02 ISTLowering import tariffs to meet Trump’s demands won’t hurt if India can lift farm production and penetrate export markets. Crucially, we must revise our policy on genetically modified (GM) crops.
Dani Rodrik: Trump’s coalition could collapse under the weight of its own contradictions
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 12:00:01 ISTElon Musk versus Steve Bannon is just one division in MAGA-land. Divergent world-views may co-exist, sure, but the special agendas of key players would make serious ruptures all but inevitable.
Trump’s crypto reserve: An odd idea with a silver lining for the world
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 07:30:13 ISTThe US President’s proposal last week wasn’t the great crypto boost that fans of digital tokens expected. Its market impact must stay resolutely neutral. And if CBDCs gain US approval, that’ll be a bonus.
Mint Quick Edit | India’s lentils tariff: Half a surprise
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 07:00:10 ISTImport duty upped from zero to 10% may look odd in today’s trade context, but seems in line with a lentils self-sufficiency plan. Free markets, of course, seem to be on nobody’s mind nowadays.
President Trump’s decisions will set the global order
Mon, 10 Mar 2025 05:30:07 ISTMany economists believe the global markets will see an economic downturn if Trump’s petulance prevails on 2 April
Gross domestic product: Grossly inadequate as a measure of well-being
Sun, 09 Mar 2025 16:00:04 ISTGDP is a construct that tells us far less about progress than the hoopla around it would suggest. India’s statistical system would fill a big void if it creates a truly useful measure of well-being.
Corporate boards should not show CEOs the door prematurely
Sun, 09 Mar 2025 15:30:03 ISTJust 20 months after Hein Schumacher took charge as Unilever’s chief, he is being replaced. Amid steep business challenges, boards have been displaying unfair levels of impatience with chief executives. But frequent CEO changes won’t help.
India and the EU have plenty to gain by forging closer bilateral ties
Sun, 09 Mar 2025 15:00:03 ISTEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to New Delhi has brought the two sides closer as they aim to boost trade relations and supply chain resilience, among other mutually beneficial goals.
Manu Joseph: Narayana Murthy, Subrahmanyan and Jamie Dimon miss something simple about work
Sun, 09 Mar 2025 14:00:01 ISTThe passion of workers, unlike of bosses, isn’t work. In fact, work is so dreary that they wouldn’t do it if it didn’t pay. Business leaders often forget this.
Nitin Pai: India has some big cards to play in negotiations with Trump
Sun, 09 Mar 2025 13:00:00 ISTNew Delhi does have leverage of the kind that may impress the US President. Here’s a full suit of cards, including a joker, that can be played. But it’s best to wait for Trump’s moves to gain a bargaining advantage.
Trump tariffs: Is the US president doomed to repeat history?
Sat, 08 Mar 2025 15:22:24 ISTIn his inaugural address, Donald Trump harked back to William McKinley, the 25th US president, who raised tariffs on US imports from 38% to 50% in 1890, setting off a chain of events that culminated in the Great Depression half a century later.
Why business schools hold the key to bridging the gender gap
Sat, 08 Mar 2025 06:00:19 ISTDespite efforts to improve gender diversity in the workplace, women remain underrepresented in leadership roles. Can targeted admissions policies in educational institutions, scholarships, and corporate hiring strategies close the gender gap?
Anti-DEI Attacks on Georgetown Law Violate the First Amendment
Sat, 08 Mar 2025 04:52:57 ISTInterim DC US Attorney Ed Martin’s threats to the school also smack of McCarthyism.
Honda risks becoming a third wheel in India with its new electric scooter strategy
Fri, 07 Mar 2025 14:00:03 ISTJapanese companies like Honda had cracked the two-wheeler game across South Asia. The Honda Activa, for instance, has been a big success in India. But this auto-maker might trample on its own success with its eccentric strategy for its new class of electric scooters.
Gender and Age: We need a female perspective on ageing populations
Fri, 07 Mar 2025 13:00:01 ISTWith advances in healthcare extending lifespans globally, a new problem has emerged: ageing populations. However, a perspective that’s often missing is its unique impact on women, who not only tend to outlive men but also experience specific social disadvantages.
Indo-Pacific security: India mustn’t let Diego Garcia fall off its map
Fri, 07 Mar 2025 07:30:10 ISTThis American air-base in the Indian Ocean has been part of US-UK talks as London plans to hand the island over to Mauritius. Given a cloud over the Quad and our Indo-Pacific stakes, we must hedge our risk.
Mint Quick Edit | Market cues from China can be positive too
Fri, 07 Mar 2025 07:00:08 ISTChina’s 2025 target for GDP growth looks ambitious in today’s trade context but it’s counting on a fiscal stimulus. Its steel supply plan, meanwhile, has lifted Indian stocks in this sector. We must track Chinese moves.
India’s tax authorities should work harder to make peace with taxpayers
Thu, 06 Mar 2025 15:00:18 ISTIndia’s income tax system still seems too combative, as seen in its data on tax disputes, and a new draft bill only offers to simplify rules. The relationship between authorities and taxpayers needs a sea change.
Trump’s policy reversals will have implications for jobs and livelihoods in India
Thu, 06 Mar 2025 14:00:11 ISTSmall loans for new livelihood seekers in urban settings are mostly taken from opaque informal sources that monetary policy doesn’t reach. We should encourage the formation of locality-specific self-help groups.
