Budget: A heavy burden on Pranab Mukherjee
![]() |
Click NEXT to read on
Image: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Photographs: Reuters.
Budget: A heavy burden on Pranab Mukherjee
![]() |
![]() |
As it happens, the Budget is scheduled at a time of great uncertainty in the global political economy. There is also a growing debate on issues of growth and distribution (Jagdish Bhagwati vs Amartya Sen?), a point I will discuss later.
Recent events in several Arab countries clearly have implications for global economy in terms of oil prices, the continued availability of the Suez Canal for global shipping and even food prices, as The Economist (February 5) recently argued. And the developed world is having its own, increasingly intractable, fiscal and growth problems.
Click NEXT to read on
Image: Pranab Mukherjee.
Budget: A heavy burden on Pranab Mukherjee
![]() |
![]() |
Click NEXT to read on
Image: Egypt crisis.
Photographs: Reuters.
Budget: A heavy burden on Pranab Mukherjee
![]() |
![]() |
And, the revolution in triggered unrest that led to the ouster of the Egyptian president and disturbances in other neighbouring countries (Jordan, Yemen, Syria, Algeria and so on). Will it spread to Saudi Arabia, a country that produces one of every four barrels of oil consumed globally?
Click NEXT to read on
Image: Revolutionary graffiti adorns a wall in Tunis.
Photographs: Reuters.
Budget: A heavy burden on Pranab Mukherjee
![]() |
![]() |
Click NEXT to read on
Image: Professor Fouad Ajami.
Budget: A heavy burden on Pranab Mukherjee
![]() |
![]() |
As Tunisia and Egypt show, it does not even take organised opposition to bring down governments. Social networks like Twitter and Facebook and the power of the Internet are often enough to bring people to the streets.
It is striking that practically all of these factors seem to be present in our country. To be sure, we are a (non-functioning?) parliamentary democracy, unlike the Arab countries. But can this, by itself, compensate for all the other weaknesses? For how long?
Click NEXT to read on
Image: Protest against corruption.
Budget: A heavy burden on Pranab Mukherjee
![]() |
![]() |
Though food price inflation makes headlines daily, unemployment could well be an even bigger issue.
To quote three recent instances: when the Mumbai Mahanagar Palika advertised for 700 vacancies for school teachers, it received 70,000 applications; Cidco's 40 jobs attracted 17,000 applications; and ITBP's 416 vacancies attracted 150,000 job-seekers at the recruitment centre. Tragically, many died in the travel rush.Click NEXT to read on
Image: Inflation woes.
Photographs: Reuters.
Budget: A heavy burden on Pranab Mukherjee
![]() |
More |
Too many social activists and well-meaning people have become extremely adept at this, and take pride in it. Can we create jobs without change? The song and dance over Incredible India in Davos is over; the hard task is just beginning.
Tailpiece
Is our government in Delhi any more popular on the streets of Srinagar than President Mubarak was on the streets of Cairo?
Image: Incredible India.
this
article