Do it yourself

As I mentioned in the preceding post , a narrative of “tax terrorism” is being built strongly on social media, against the incumbent regime. Many popular influencers are repeatedly alleging that the government is squeezing the middle classes too hard through “exorbitant” direct and indirect taxes. Numerous experts have opined that the high taxes are the primary reason for the decline in growth trajectory, especially the private consumption. The followers of these experts are quick to lament that poor infrastructure and civic amenities are totally incongruent with the current structures of direct and indirect taxation. There is absolutely no denying that regardless of the official claims, the civic infrastructure in most parts of the country remains of poor quality and inadequate. The civic authorities are mostly inefficient, and wastage of resources rampant. Nonetheless, accusing the current regime of coercive taxation policies may not be appropriate, in my view. The taxation structure...

Addressing the Student’s Union of London School of Economics and Political Science in 1923, Bertrand Russell said, “One of the peculiarities of the English-speaking world is its immense interest and belief in political parties. A very large percentage of English-speaking people really believe that the ills from which they suffer would be cured if a certain political party were in power. That is a reason for the swing of the pendulum. A man votes for one party and remains miserable; he concludes that it is the other party that was to bring the millennium. By the time he is disenchanted with all parties, he is an old man on the verge of death; his sons retain the belief of his youth, and the see-saw goes on.” After more than 100 years, his words not only remain true, but also equally applicable to the democracies which are not English speaking; Indian subcontinent being a classical case in point. In the past 75 years, the citizens of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal ha...

What do we really want? To accelerate the economic growth in order to generate more employment and improve the quality of life of Indian populace, the country indubitably needs huge amount of fresh capital. Various economists, government agencies and expert committees have suggested that to attain optimum level of employment Indian economy would need to grow 8-10% CAGR for next decade or so. The capital investment required by private sector to create critical infrastructure to support 8-10% GDP growth is pegged in the range of US$10-12trn over next 10yrs. Energy sector alone may need investment of more than US$1trn over next one decade. It is well recognized fact that such kind of long term risk capital may not be available internally. Foreign investment is therefore a pre-requisite for the process of economic planning, development and growth. Any debate on path, trajectory and sustainability of growth should therefore begin with this assumption that adequate...

First thought this morning The government's proposal to hike registration fee for new vehicles has met with widespread criticism. I am however not able to decipher what this criticism is about - timing of the proposal when the auto industry is struggling with poor demand and mounting inventories; the principle of sin tax being applied to the motor vehicles; or both. I distinctly recall that last winter when the air pollution levels in many cities, especially the capital Delhi, crossed the last limits, many experts have suggested steep increase in parking and registration charges to demotivate people from buying more vehicles. There have been numerous cases of young kids developing serious respiratory conditions like asthma, premature graying of hairs and problems related to eyesight. Recently, doctors in Delhi have suspected a case of lung cancer in a young lade due to air pollution in Delhi. The capital city witnesses many cases of violence including murders ...

Some food for thought "A demagogue is a person with whom we disagree as to which gang should mismanage the country." —Don Marquis (American Poet, 1878-1937) Word for the day Demagogue (n) A person, especially an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people.   First thought this morning Founder of Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) succumbed to the pressure and decided to take the extreme step. This is a sad moment for many like me who had a truly good time enjoying coffee with friends in CCD. In CCD, V. G. Siddhartha (VGS) created a brilliant institution. However, somehow I am finding the obituaries, comments and reactions from media, market participants, social media stars etc quite hypocritical. Vijay Mallya (VM), also established a brilliant institution in Kingfisher Airlines. I had really good time travelling in Kingfisher. I am sure almost ...