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In RealTime posts, PIIE senior staff and colleagues discuss the fast-moving economic news, financial developments, and public policy choices confronting the United States and the world.
The author participated in the PIIE conference on Jan. 7 on “Ethics and Globalization: the Tradeoffs Underlying Our Policy Choices.” In Session III: “Expecting Ethical Duties from Private Actors,” Ms. Elliott addressed the subject of this posting as a panelist. On Jan. 8, the US Trade Representative issued a call for comments on a petition [...]
Mahatma Gandhi will be a theme of President Obama’s visit to India. For the Mahatma, eliminating the scourge of caste and improving the plight of untouchables (“Dalits” as they are now referred to) was his life’s objective and life-time obsession. With good reason. In the Indian state of Kerala, the lowest of the low were [...]
President Obama is heading to India today on a state visit that is fraught with expectations and hopes on both sides. His two predecessors, each in his own way, made a lasting impression on India. President Clinton’s reaching out to the Indian people nearly ten years ago erupted in a spontaneous dance with a group [...]
The floods in Pakistan have affected one-fifth of the country (an area roughly the size of England) and engulfed large parts of all four provinces—Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly the North West Frontier Province). The vast scope of the damage makes this a truly national disaster bearing long-term economic and political consequences for [...]
On August 15, India celebrated 63 years of independence. Many hail it as an economic powerhouse but also point to the lopsidedness of its growth. Despite being home to some of the world’s leading technology companies, poverty is still widespread, physical and social infrastructure still woefully inadequate, employment opportunities still limited, and access to basic [...]
There will be an eerie familiarity to this weekend’s G-20 meetings. Disagreements between the United States and Europe on two important issues—macroeconomic policy, and specifically the timing of withdrawal of policy support, and financial regulation—will characterize these meetings. Resolution of these issues seems unlikely. The verdict will be that the G-20 has failed, reinforcing the [...]
India has just implemented a policy coup. In arguably its most important policy reform over its two stints in office, the Congress-led Indian government announced a major package of deregulation of its petroleum pricing regime, which would reduce substantially consumer subsidies in this area. The reform covers four products: petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), [...]
The US Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, is off to India to launch the new bilateral economic dialogue focused on macroeconomic stability, financial markets, and infrastructure financing. Geithner has a long association with India, where he spent some of his childhood in the 1980s as the son of a Ford Foundation officer. This trip will have [...]
Hard on the heels of his tour of China—a visit that produced mixed results and even more mixed reviews—President Obama welcomes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the White House in the first state visit of his presidency. For both Mr. Obama and Dr. Singh, the trip will be important symbolically, politically, and economically—even if it [...]
The victory in the Indian elections by the incumbent Congress party and its allies augurs well for Indian economic-policy reform. Congress was led de jure by the economist-turned-politician Dr. Manmohan Singh and de facto by the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, who is part of the Nehru family, which has been a force in Indian politics since [...]