Expert Zone
Straight from the Specialists
How do we explain India’s economic woes?
(Rajan Ghotgalkar is Managing Director of Principal Pnb Asset Management Company. The views expressed in this column are his own and do not represent those of either Principal Pnb or Reuters)
Our GDP growth rates have slid consistently quarter on quarter from 8.5 to 5.3 pct. Surely this is in keeping with a glaring trend. Therefore, this sudden surge of emotions and panic after wallowing in so such mass self-deception is surprising to say the least.
The search for the customary foreign hand took us travelling to the euro zone and even as far as the United States. This well tested tactic had worked well for us in the past and our nation survived many a challenge possibly because bigger ones emerged to pale the older ones to insignificance.
This time around, the crisis seems to be for real and growing because band aids may be rendered ineffective. The solutions can no more be delivered by a mere stroke of the pen because this situation demands that we address core structural issues through a political consensus.
China’s economic data (still) not credible
(The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not represent those of Reuters)
China today announced that GDP growth for 2011 slowed to 9.2 pct. Over the coming days and weeks, there will be a stream of pontificating about what this means. There’s a good chance that everyone involved will be pontificating about nonsense.
