What Caused the Global Economic Crisis ?
The previous article in the module introduced the global economic crisis with a brief overview of the causes. This article looks at the causes of the global economic crisis in depth. For starters, the global economic crisis carries a distinct “Made in the USA” tag which means that the origins of the crisis are to […]
Productivity and Its Role in Shaping Economies and Businesses
Introduction: Productivity and Its Centrality to Growth We often hear the term productivity in many contexts and whether you are a student or a working professional, you are constantly exhorted to be more productive. In recent years, the dictum that do not work hard, but Work Smart, is often used by many of the opinion […]
The Pharma Sector and Intellectual Property Rights: Pros and Cons
The Case for Patents The Pharma sector is often caught in the fight over whether the enforcement of IPR or Intellectual Property Rights should be followed or whether the sector exists for alleviating the health concerns of the poor and the needy thereby ensuring affordable drugs to the masses. Before we launch into the discussion […]
Top 5 ERP Solutions Providers and their Pros and Cons
Introduction Enterprise resource planning has been the forefront in providing efficiency and productivity solution to the companies all over the world. In the global and competitive environment, it is essential for companies to have some sort of ERP in place. Enterprise resource planning ensures that deployment of resources take place, and company can monitor them […]
How the Government Should Manage Natural Disasters
Natural disasters are a difficult reality. Regardless of our beliefs, these disasters such as earthquakes and floods have a huge impact on our lives in every part of the world. Every year, people all over the world face several disasters. The lives of many of these people are completely destroyed as a result of these […]
Much has been written about the way in which India was one of the few countries that was relatively unscathed because of the global economic crisis. Most of these narratives focused on how India managed to weather the storm in the dark days following the collapse of Lehmann Brothers. However, it cannot be completely said that the worst is over for India as events of the last few months have indicated.
Starting with the rating agency, S&P (Standard & Poor’s) downgrading it to the runaway inflation that has plagued the country, there have been other economic indicators as well that do not bode well for the future of the economy. Given these factors, it is too early to say that India is out of the woods.
However, a noteworthy aspect of the global economic crisis has been the way in which global banks nearly collapsed and had to be bailed out by their respective governments. It is to the credit of the policymaking elite in India that they did not allow the trading of derivatives that were responsible in part for the global economic crisis.
Further, the fact that the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and the Finance Ministry took steps to ensure that the banks are adequately capitalized as well as ensuring that they set aside a portion of their capital towards statutory requirements has meant that the Indian banking system did not suffer the fate that many countries in Europe and especially the United States were faced with in the aftermath of the crisis.
It is important to remember that the Indian government did respond with a stimulus package and has followed a rather loose monetary policy, in the build up to the crisis. This has meant that the growth that India has experienced has been partly due to the availability of easy money.
And the fact that the RBI is now following a tight monetary policy is an indication that it recognizes the severity of the problem of inflation. This is one aspect that needs to be watched over the coming months.
Apart from this, there is the aspect related to the way in which India is not overly export dependent like China and hence, if the foreign exchange reserves and the balance of payments along with the current account deficit are managed properly, there is no reason why India can breathe easy. However, the recent gyration in the value of the Rupee that has fallen steeply against the Dollar means that this aspect needs to be watched as well.
In conclusion, the experience of the Indian economy in the aftermath of the global economic crisis has been mixed and though there some notable positives there are downsides as well. It is for this reason that the recent pronouncements from the Prime Minister and the Industry Captains against policy paralysis needs to be seen in the context of the revival of the India story. What happens next is anybody’s guess but it is fair to say that the golden years of growth might be behind us.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
What the Current Wave of Protectionism and Populism mean for the Future of Globalization and Free Trade
February 12, 2025
