MacroScan - Services

Dec 12th 2011, Jayati Ghosh

The actual impact of large corporate retail, and especially multinational retail chains, in developing countries clearly shows that many of the claims made by proponents of such corporate retailing - in terms of employment generation or benefits to producers and consumers - are suspect or sometimes completely false.

Retrogression in Retail

Dec 1st 2011, C.P. Chandrasekhar

Permitting FDI in retail trade, wherein a few oligopolistic buyers will come to dominate retail trade, will lead to adverse employment effects and an erosion of the real incomes of small crop producers.

Why are Women's Health Outcomes in India so Poor?

Nov 29th 2011, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

Women's health outcomes in India are generally much worse than in comparator countries, despite two decades of very rapid growth in India. Public spending on health as a share of GDP has not increased, and per capita spending on immunisation and primary health centres has actually gone down.

Higher Education: Dealing with higher expectations

Sep 7th 2011, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

There has been a significant increase in enrolment in higher education in developing countries (especially Asia) in the past decade. However, this positive change also brings forth certain challenges, the most obvious of which is the challenge of generating enough employment to meet expectations of growing numbers of new graduates.

Public Spending on Education in India

Jun 29th 2011, Jayati Ghosh

The failure of the government to provide universal access to quality schooling and to ensure equal access to higher education among all socio-economic groups as well as across gender and region has significant implications for equitable socio-economic advancement. Ensuring a reasonable quality of education to all children will necessarily require a significant expansion of the public resources to be provided.

The Japan-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

Feb 22nd 2011, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

There has been much media celebration about the recent signing of the Japan-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. This article examines some of the features of the agreement and considers their implications for domestic economic strategies and processes in India.

Managing the Mass Media

Aug 31st 2010, Jayati Ghosh

Some recent Indian experiences have led to the formation of a consensus that the mass media have become sensationalist and scandal-obsessed, often irresponsible and generally insensitive. The problem is getting so much worse that there is a need to think of new and creative ways to make sure that our media is actually accountable to the general public, including those without any political voice to speak of.

Indian IT: Privileged, protected and pampered

Aug 31st 2010, C.P. Chandrasekhar

One possible reason for the Indian IT industry's protest against the US move to increase visa costs for Indian companies could be that the industry has received privileged treatment at home for more than a decade. But given these special privileges one question that has constantly been posed is, are there adequate reasons to justify their provision?

The Sacred Cow

Aug 23rd 2010, Prabhat Patnaik

The bourgeoisie argument that development of infrastructure is in the interest of society and investment for it must be encouraged at all costs ignores the fact that infrastructure has a class character as well. Essentially, we must distinguish between ''infrastructure'' that is in the interests of the people at large and ''infrastructure'' that uses social resources for the benefit of the few.

Money Illusion

Jun17th 2010, C.P. Chandrasekhar

The perception created by the spectrum auction that there is much money in government coffers to pursue a social agenda is an illusion for two reasons. First, whatever money appears to be at hand is not available in the long term. Second, the new receipts from the private sector that create this illusion could be substantially matched by reduced government receipts in other areas or reverse flows to the private sector.

The Good News about Health in West Bengal

Jun 15th 2010, C.P. Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh

This article shows how the state of West Bengal has recently experienced some of the fastest improvements in basic health indicators among all the major states in the country. It is argued that these recent improvements are attributable to the general improvement in institutional conditions in the countryside, the extension of better sanitation facilities to rural areas, as well as the implementation of targeted schemes for maternal nutrition.

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