The ones who came more recently were clutching the green cards that gave them an escape hatch through which to return to green pastures: Arvind Panagariya, Raghuram Rajan, Arvind Subramanian and other perfectly honourable gentlemen like them, points out T N Ninan.
T N Ninan writes on how the United States is handling the BP oil spill disaster and what India needed to do in the horrific Bhopal gas tragedy.
Mr Modi should be conscious that it was his choice to slash the number of tax-payers from 60 million to 15 million, notes T N Ninan.
The proliferating flyovers, eyesores every one of them, merely redistribute traffic to new choke points.
'What is unusual about the current period of slow growth is that it has come without an external driver -- high oil prices and/or successive monsoon failures -- as was the case with all previous periods of slowdown, going back 50 years, notes T N Ninan.
Given the financial support and the makeover that Delhi is getting for the Commonwealth Games, Delhiites should not crib about some hike in tax, says T N Ninan.
The position of director is more than the sinecure that all too many retired executives seek out because of the fees, car, and the opportunity to feel important, says T N Ninan.
'There is a time for lowering one's expectations of the economy -- and therefore not trying to do too much in the Budget,' notes T N Ninan.
This failure of basic short-term policy is surprising, given the star power that this government brings to its economic management.
T N Ninan on how the 'reformer' groups are milking the economy to serve their ends.
If India counts itself as a 'great power', it will have to play a role in framing and enforcing new global rules, says T N Ninan.
Mamata should travel to China to see how the Chinese railway system is expanding, says T N Ninan.
The government simply has to find a way to deliver the basics. That is what will defeat the Maoists and hold off China.
India's share of world GDP is just 2 per cent, and of global poverty an embarrassing 30 per cent.
India should not allow millions to suffer the ill effects of a drought because of official apathy or sluggishness, says T N Ninan.
Do the Thackerays really believe that Mumbai will not lose jobs if banks and companies lose the freedom to hire whom they choose.
The time may have come for India to stop thinking of five-year plans, and to focus instead on 10-and 20-year scenarios.
'Why do we make finance ministers go into contortions, to tell us that near 6% is 3.5%?' 'Why not encourage more open and full accounting so that the country knows the real picture,' asks T N Ninan.
I am not joining the small minority which still argues that global warming is voodoo science; there is simply too much evidence of ice melting to argue from that standpoint. But I would suggest that there is hope on the global warming front, says T N Ninan.
'It is almost certainly wrong in assuming that the Modi government will use its strong mandate to undertake some serious reform measures.' 'For it is fairly clear that the government's priorities lie elsewhere, in the powerful home minister's domain,' notes T N Ninan.
Pranab Mukherjee will have to stay lucky if he is to climb the big mountain that lies ahead.
'Mr Kejriwal is almost exactly the package that Mr Modi offers: Personal aggrandisement, the building of a personality cult through full-page newspaper ads day after day, populist schemes involving subsidies (whether affordable or required), abandonment of secular principles, exaggerated claims and no checks on leadership,' points out T N Ninan.
'There is a fiscal crisis building up, which might become apparent when the Finance Commission presents its report,' warns T N Ninan.
There is a strong state-wise dimension to India's poverty question, and the first answers have to come from the governments of the concerned states.
It became increasingly clear that the real negotiations the government had to conduct were with Indian business which was wary of yet another free trade agreement, points out T N Ninan.
'Growth would have to be 7% in the October-March period, if the year as a whole is to clock 6%.' 'Who would bet on that when, in the world of real numbers, both exports and imports have continued to fall, car sales have continued to slump, and the industrial production index shows yet again a drop in output?', asks T N Ninan.
'Fiscal purists would quarrel with the idea of selling assets to pay for current expenditure -- such as the payout to farmers and the health insurance programme -- for the obvious reason that the process cannot go on forever.' 'At some point, the list of assets available for sale will run out,' notes T N Ninan.consultations -- something already aired in connection with the lease of airports to the Adani group, says T N Ninan.
Dr Pradhan, a Democrat, continues to be the highest-ranking elected Indian American official in the state of New York.
India is going into the longest lockdown in the world, with the least amount of notice given to its people and the least preparation by its government.
'No one seems to have looked at the extent of money that is being borrowed by individuals, and the rising levels of household debt.' 'At their present rates of growth, personal loans in India could well become the largest category of bank credit in just two or three years,' cautions T N Ninan.
'Since the growth is not fast enough to provide jobs for the young, the fallout will be political and social,' warns T N Ninan.
If anything has become clear during this campaign, it is this: Mr Modi can bat on almost any wicket and hit the ball over the ropes, points out T N Ninan.
'The digital economy will generate 60 to 65 million jobs by 2025, 20 million more than the 40 to 45 million existing jobs that are in danger of disappearing or getting automated,' points out T N Ninan.
If foreigners need reasonable taxes, why offer citizens something else? If foreign businessmen look for assurance on the rule of law, so do citizens, argues T N Ninan.
'If an election promise has to be credible, silence on practical questions doesn't help matters,' notes T N Ninan.
Today, with growth having slowed and macro-economic challenges in every direction, would the government have benefited from the advice of 'Harvard' economists? asks T N Ninan.
'A major political party has come down on the side of Constitutional freedoms and internationally recognised human rights,' says T N Ninan.
'Is India going to miss some more of its potential demographic dividend?' 'If so, it would be for two reasons: The demographic dividend can be fully exploited only if the people in the working age are actually working.' 'And second, if those working have proper education and skills, making them productive in the workplace.' 'On both counts, the country has fallen short,' points out T N Ninan.
'The fiscal situation is stressed (when is it not?!), economic growth has slowed, tax revenue has fallen short and the deficit is high if it is properly accounted,' points out T N Ninan.
'If businesses are focused on de-leveraging, they can hardly be investing. This is the price extracted by investment mistakes during UPA rule, and should have been foreseen. 'But Modi-I must share the blame, for muted reform of the financial sector, partisan policy in telecom, the harm done to exports by an over-priced rupee, and so on,' says T N Ninan.
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