Economy
Investments and economic growth -- Barking up the wrong tree
WHEN the future does not seem to promise good news about the economy, almost everyone turns to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India with appeals and suggestions. These are usually meant for those who make decisions pertinent to fiscal, trade, industr
ial and monetary policies. The appeals and suggestions are directed at policymakers with the hope that some components of policy would be reformed or tweaked so as to restore confidence in the economy.
Globalisation -- No shortcut to development
AS THE debate on globalisation proliferates, it gets more confusing. Is globalisation a source of economic growth and prosperity, as most economists and many in the policy community believe? Or, is it a threat to social stability and the natural environm
ent, as a curious mix of interests ranging from labour to environmentalists -- and including the unlikely trio of Ross Perot, George Soros, and Sir James Goldsmith -- argue?
Editorial
More air pockets
THE AIRLINE DISINVESTMENT programme, that was scheduled to take off by August, seems to have run into the sort of dense fog that usually cripples flights into and out of New Delhi each winter. First it was a rewriting of the eligibility rules that disqua
lified two bidders, the Hindujas and Videocon, from the race. Effectively that left Indian Airlines without a claimant, and Air India with only one, the Tata-Singapore Airlines combine.
Information Technology
E-the-people
THE time is not far off when the preamble ``We, the people'' will morph into e-the- people, signifying the enormous efforts being made in true democracies to electronically integrate the people with their governments, making a reality of the oft-repeated
mantra of government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Miscellaneous
Warning hazards
SO, Mr George W. Bush is off on a month long vacation on his Texas ranch. Its the longest vacation any American president has ever taken. Especially one who's already known for being work-shy. I cant blame George W. America's sliding into a recession wit
h all the subtlety of the Titanic going down into the cold Atlantic waters. Presidents have guaranteed jobs, others don't.
Politics
Heroin, Taliban and Pakistan
PAKISTAN'S illegal heroin economy has kept its legitimate economy sustained since 1990 and prevented its collapse. It has also enabled it maintain a high level of arms purchases from abroad, and finance its proxy war against India through the jehadi orga
nisations.
