A progressive tax system (in which the rich pay more than the poor) is one in which direct taxes account for more revenue than indirect taxes (which are on goods and services). In that respect, India's period of supposedly extortionate tax rates produced a most undesirable result because the Centre's next direct tax revenue was barely a fifth of its net indirect tax revenue.
Of the roughly 200 stocks that are traded in both the spot and futures markets on the major exchanges in Mumbai, 40 have a price-earnings ratio of more than 40.
Textile exports this year are now slotted to reach $23 billion, down from the original target of $25 billion. Last year's target was missed too, by a couple of billion dollars.
If I could be born again, and I had a head for big numbers, I'd like to be an investment banker in New York. Look at what I would do for a living, says T N Ninan.
India's stock market is still ruling only marginally lower than a month ago.
The broad sense which prevails today is that India's macro-economic numbers are in good shape. But are they?
Indian government must work to drop the cost of land, labour, capital, energy and transport. If these are done, the rest will take care of itself.
Before concluding that the current level of FDI flows is a reflection of India coming into its own with regard to manufacturing, it is important to carefully study the numbers and to understand the story that they tell.
The government has given up the claim of record economic performance and laid itself open to the charge that rapid economic growth is not benefiting the common man.
Yes, industry should be socially responsible and it would be nice if the rich did not flaunt their wealth in a poor country, but what is needed most of all is effective governance and reform of the government.
No one would have dreamt then that, in the space of a generation, Delhi would be challenging Mumbai to become the country's business capital.
Have a sunset clause for most laws as a matter of routine, so that there is opportunity for periodic review.
Pensioners who had relied on bank interest rates staying high (which had been the long-term experience) were shocked as their calculations on monthly interest payment went awry, as interest rates crashed early in this decade, says T N Ninan.
In "real" terms, that is after adjusting for inflation, interest rates have remained unchanged from where they were a year ago. That would suggest that the RBI has got its sums right.
The last week's headlines have captured the contrasts and contradictions within India in all their starkness, and sharpness.
The big guys have access to funds overseas, and their cost of borrowing does not change at all. If anything, a tighter domestic monetary situation gives them a comparative advantage when it comes to the cost of borrowed funds.
If the state were to move from being a generally inefficient service provider to an agent for fiscal transfers, it would be helping the common man much more with much less.
If Indian companies do not understand the roots of India's culture and genius, they will not succeed
It would be a pity if we read the macro-economic picture wrong and ended up with more draconian measures, for that might squeeze growth when there is no need to do so.
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