Skip to main content

"Lacklustre" economic reforms: Market liberals disillusioned, "cultural warriors" alone Modi's top supporters

 
In a sharp critique of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic policies, America’s powerful business newspaper, “Wall Street Journal” (WSJ), has said in an opinion piece that “free-market liberals” in India are fast “losing faith that Modi will deliver on his promise to launch India on a path of prosperity.”
Warning that “lacklustre reform record will likely have electoral consequences”, despite whatever “senior politicians” from Modi's BJP argue, WSJ says, if one takes way “market liberals” from his support, “the only opinion makers left supporting the BJP are a group of culture warriors championing ancient Hindu glory.”
Written by WSJ columnist Sadanand Dhume, who is attached with the conservative Washington-based think-tank American Enterprise Institute, the article says, just two years ago, “a small but influential cohort of market-friendly analysts and commentators were among his most ardent supporters”, which is not the case how.
WSJ says, “Today many of them have lost enthusiasm for Modi, who appears to lack both clarity and appetite for bold reforms. The prime minister's advisors may pooh-pooh this development. India's elections, they say, are won by appealing to the masses, not to intellectuals spouting Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek.”
Insisting that “they are wrong”, WSJ says,  “Loathed by the cultural left, Modi cannot afford to alienate the economic right. Should Finance Minister Arun Jaitley deliver another lacklustre budget next month – his third dud in a row – it will not only hurt India's economy but also his boss's re-election prospects.”
Giving examples of “most influential market liberals” who have signaled their disappointment, theWSJ says, one of them is “former cabinet minister Arun Shourie, who successfully privatized state-owned firms during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure from 1998-2004”.
If Shourie recently accused the Modi government of confusing managing the economy with “managing the headlines”, investment guru Jim Rogers, once an enthusiastic Modi backer, has accused him of having done little “to change the basic macroeconomic problems facing India”, the opinion piece says.
While the government may have rolled out “red carpet for investors”, WSJ says, “In terms of minimizing government, particularly in business, the slogans have little connection with reality.”
Among the examples WSJ offers on failure of Modi to go in for market reforms, WSJ says, the proposed goods and services tax “to stitch India into a common market won't be rolled out this April as planned”, and the government has been forced to beat a retreat “on a proposal to ease land-acquisition norms for industry”.
Further, WSJ says, the reform of labour laws – which currently discourage job growth by making it difficult to lay off workers during a downturn – has been left to state governments; and the UPA directive “compelling companies to channel some of their profits toward social objectives continues, which is being used by politicians to “encourage” businessmen to fund their favorite boondoggles.
Finally, WSJ regrets, “Instead of winding up the previous government's flagship programme — a rural job guarantee that wasted billions of dollars — Modi plans to increase its funding.”
Pointing out that the Modi administration displays “no philosophical clarity on the economy”, WSJ says, this is clear from the fact that he seems to believe that “he can stem the rot in state-owned companies by picking the right managers rather than privatizing the firms.”

Comments

TRENDING

Breaking news? Top Hindu builder ties up with Muslim investor for a huge minority housing society in Ahmedabad

There is a flutter in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur area, derogatorily referred to as the "border" because, on its eastern side, there is a sprawling minority area called Juhapura, where around five lakh Muslims live. The segregation is so stark that virtually no Muslim lives in Vejalpur, populated by around four lakh Hindus, and no Hindu lives in Juhapura.

60 crore in Mahakumbh? It's all hype with an eye on UP polls, asserts keen BJP supporter in Amit Shah's constituency

As the Mahakumbh drew to a close, during my daily walk, I met a veteran BJP supporter—a neighbor with whom we would often share dinner in a group. An amicable person, the first thing he asked me, as he was about to take the lift to his flat, was, "How many people do you think must have participated in the holy dip?" He then stopped by to talk—which we did for a full half-hour, cutting into my walk time.

An untold story? Still elusive: Gujarati language studies on social history of Gujarat's caste and class evolution

This is a follow-up to my earlier blog , where I mentioned that veteran scholar Prof. Ghanshyam Shah has just completed a book for publication on a topic no academic seems to have dealt with—caste and class relations in Gujarat’s social history. He forwarded me a chapter of the book, published as an "Economic & Political Weekly" article last year, which deals with the 2015 Patidar agitation in the context of how this now-powerful caste originated in the Middle Ages and how it has evolved in the post-independence era.

Morari Bapu echoes misleading figures to support the BJP's anti-conversion agenda

A senior Gujarat activist phoned me today to inform me that the well-known storyteller on Lord Ram, Morari Bapu, has made an "unsubstantiated" and "preposterous" statement in Songadh town, located in the tribal-dominated Tapi district. He claimed that while the Gujarat government wants the Bhagavad Gita to be taught in schools, the "problem is" that 75% of government teachers "are Christians who do not let this happen" and are “involved in religious conversions.”

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Justifying social divisions? 'Dogs too have caste system like we humans, it's natural'

I have never had any pets, nor am I very comfortable with them. Frankly, I don't know how to play with a pet dog. I just sit quietly whenever I visit someone and see their pet dog trying to lick my feet. While I am told not to worry, I still choose to be a little careful, avoiding touching the pet.

Caste, class, and Patidar agitation: Veteran academic 'unearths' Gujarat’s social history

Recently, I was talking with a veteran Gujarat-based academic who is the author of several books, including "Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature", "Untouchability in Rural India", "Public Health and Urban Development: The Study of Surat Plague", and "Dalit Identity and Politics", apart from many erudite articles and papers in research and popular journals.

New York-based digital company traces Modi's meteoric rise to global Hindutva ecosystem over several decades

A recent document, released by the Polis Project Inc.—a New York-based digital magazine and hybrid research and journalism organization—even as seeking to highlight the alleged rise of authoritarianism in India, has sought to trace Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meteoric rise since 2014 to the ever-expanding global Hindutva ecosystem over the last several decades.

Behind the scene? Ex-IAS, now Modi man in Yogi Cabinet, who lined up Mahakumbh VVIP comforts for Gujarat colleagues

The other day, I was talking to a senior IAS official about whether he or his colleagues had traveled to the recently concluded Mahakumbh in Allahabad, which was renamed Prayagraj by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as part of his intense Hindutva drive. He refused to reveal any names but said he had not gone there "despite arrangements for Gujarat cadre IAS officials" at the Mahakumbh VVIP site. "The water is too dirty—why take the risk?" he asked.