Mainstream Weekly

Tribute: Ordinary Indian Extraordinaire — People's President Abdul Kalam

A V V S K Rao — 2015-08-31T18:12:08Z

“If I am asked who is the greatest man? I answer the best; And if I am required to say who is the best? I reply he that has deserved most of his fellow creatures.” —Sir William Jones
India is fortunate to have two great men as its Presidents—one is Plato's philosopher king ideal, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, a great philosopher from Oxford in the 20th century (our second President), and the other Archimedes personifi-cation Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a defence scientist in the 21st century, as (…)

- 2015

Union Budget 2012 - 13 : A Spurious Budget

A V V S K Rao — 2012-06-11T21:56:13Z

‘From Birth to Death, our Lives are affected in countless ways by the Activities of Government.' Stiglitz, Joseph E. (Nobel Laureate)
Prologue
The Union Budget for 2012-13 aims at addressing two primary concerns—the economic slowdown and unsatisfactory state of government finances. However, the means it employs are so cautious, and even contradictory, that the chances of success appear remote.
The Finance Minister kept in the people's pocket an estimated Rs 4500 crores by a net cut in (…)

- 2012

Union Budget 2007-08: An Exercise sans Realism

A V V S K Rao — 2007-05-19T09:00:52Z

The functional-financial theorists like Lord Keynes (Cambridge), Learner A.P. (London School of Economics) wanted public finance and the Budget to subserve the ends of macro-economics like growth in investment, employment, output and consumption etc., rejecting the classical advocacy of small and surplus Budgets. On the other hand, development-fiscal economists like Richard Musgrave (Harvard) and Stiglitz (Columbia) added the goals of capital formation, re-distributive justice, price (…)

- May 19, 2007