Neeraj Kaushal
What Bengal’s Saying Today
Anti-incumbency against Trinamool is high, but BJP’ll still find it tough. Four reasons: disconnect with Bengali ‘culture’, immigration isn’t a big issue, anger over SIR, GOI blamed for ‘discontinuing’ rural jobs scheme
- Neeraj Kaushal
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
Notes For Votes Don’t Make Voters Better Off
Unconditional cash transfers just before elections may help fight anti-incumbency, but it bleeds the economy and has limited long-term gains in real welfare of the people
How’s India’s Economy Coping With The War?
So far, not badly. High forex reserves & low inflation cushioned the first blows. GOI’s managed to avoid a crude oil supply shock. It all depends now, on when the conflict ends
India’s Gen Z Are In A Happy Place. For Now…
The young in this country have high aspirations, but limited opportunities. So, Modi’s popularity among Gen Z isn’t a guarantee that their frustrations will never spill onto the streets
- Neeraj Kaushal
- TIMESOFINDIA.COM
For Millions, Entertainment Is A Necessity, Not A Luxury
Many migrant workers prioritise spending on phone data plans. Because that’s how they get access to interesting content that helps them cope with daily hard grind
If growth is steady, why didn’t this Budget go further?
Because this Budget begins by treating 7% growth as the new normal
Is Trump Starting An Arms Race?
If he hikes US’s defence budget by 66%, while launching more military stunts, then Europe, China, India…will also have to divert more resources for war. Only respite will be if the Nov midterms set him back
Job Guarantee: Lost In BJP-Cong Alphabet Soup
The MGNREGA vs G RAM G debate is mostly about naming. What’s getting lost is that NDA’s scheme doesn’t address the key weaknesses of UPA’s scheme: proliferation of fake job cards and delayed payments
The Two Sides Of India’s Stock Market Story
Domestic investors are confidently investing while foreign investors seem nervy. We will have to wait to see who turns out right
Labour’s Still Not Decoded
Two reasons new GOI rules for factory hiring won’t produce full impact: retrenchment is still constrained by firm size & too much bureaucracy will be involved in deciding multiple minimum wages
Nitish’s Art Of Freebies
His cleverly designed direct benefit transfers have turned incumbency into an advantage. This, however, has sown seeds of fiscal ruin in India’s poorest state. The giveaway will be politically truly worth it if he gets a big mandate
Nitish Raj: Slow Work In Progress
His two decades have brought Bihar back from Lalu’s jungle raj but it still lags all other states. Problem for Bihari voters is they still don’t have an electoral politics that is not premised on caste
Nonviolence has twice the success rate: Why global powers should stop funding violent conflicts
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is now more than a century old. Millions have been killed and displaced. Would the outcome have been any worse if the Gandhian path of non-violence been chosen?
- Neeraj Kaushal
- ET Bureau
Where’ll Our Brain Train Go?
It has to head home. There’s no certainty US hostility against Indian talent will go away with Trump. India’s elite will have to demand & work towards building world-class universities here
Why People Leave Equal Bihar For Unequal Mumbai
Starting poor in life is alright if there’s equality of opportunity and a chance to strike it rich
Why the rest of the world should gang up to push back against Trump
It would be fantastic to see the rest of the world jointly retaliating, constructing a tariff wall around America, turning the world’s superpower into a global pariah
- Neeraj Kaushal
- THE ECONOMIC TIMES
What effect did tariffs have on the US economy during Trump 1.0?
The US president’s advisers say he is using the threat of tariffs to extract favourable deals from America’s trading partners. But the evidence from his first term is not so impressive
- Neeraj Kaushal
- THE ECONOMIC TIMES
The inconvenient truth about immigration Trump doesn’t want you to know
As Donald Trump reignites anti-immigrant rhetoric, an excerpt from a 2019 book 'Blaming Immigrants: Nationalism and the Economics of Global Movement' shows how nationalist policies grounded in politics, not economics, exploits fears for divisive agendas.
Techies to drivers, all kinds of Indian workers should head to Japan
For better jobs, don’t just look West or to Gulf countries, it’s time to now seek out the East and look to countries like Japan
- Neeraj Kaushal
- ET CONTRIBUTORS
Inclusive Hinduism…in Indonesia
Bali Hindus are as religious as Indian Hindus, but their women enjoy greater social equality, inter-caste marriage is common, and non-brahmins can be priests