Opinion

Dani Rodrik What is an economy for? Since Adam Smith, economists have given a straightforward answer to this question: the economy increases our consumption possibilities. A well-functioning economy is one that provides a widening array of ever-more affordable goods and services, from food and consumer...

Melvin Durai A Bangalore woman named Silpa recently shared a video on Instagram that showed her walking home from her office. “Google Maps said 38 minutes and 2.7 kilometres, but it was more than that,” she said. Summarizing her results after two weeks of walking...

Daniel Sachs Proliferating wars and shaky alliances are hallmarks of today’s brutal new political reality, one that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. But the geopolitical rupture currently underway is no accident of history, nor is it simply the result of strongmen, weak institutions,...

Severely singed by Iran's missiles across West Asia, India may have to go for drastic changes in the Union Budget by the monsoon session as prices soar, gas crisis derails households and businesses, FPI outflows near a record, and the rupee has a mighty fall....

Few United Nations Security Council resolutions have been as one-sided as its recent condemnation of Iran’s “egregious attacks” on regional neighbours such as Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Leaving little room for interpretation, it describes those attacks as “a breach of...

By Jamal Ibrahim Haidar & Adeel Malik For decades, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have exported oil and recycled petrodollars through Western markets and received military protection from the United States. This arrangement has often been described as a strategic alliance. The US-Israeli war...

By Avilash Roul To begin with, managing freshwater, the elixir of life, has once again been put at the top of the unresolved scheme of the world. Several conferences, workshops and hybrid consultations are being organised to set the agenda for the Third UN Water...

By Nikunja Bihari Sahu Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink, writes Samuel Coleridge in his ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariners’ as the ship of the ancient mariner sailed from the land of mist and snow and treaded into the calm, uncharted waters of...

The recent elections in Nepal saw the Rashtriya Swatantra Party and its leader Balendra Shah win a decisive victory, ending the uncertainty after last September’s revolution and an interim government. The defeat of the current elite is indisputable and gives the new government a strong...

Predictions and projections may not turn out to be accurate. While promises of politicians mostly are found to falter, this may not be the same in the case of professional economists who predict something based on scientific calculations. In this connection, the West Asian crisis...