Forbes (August 22)
Steve Forbes urges India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi to first create a “sound and stable currency” through disciplined monetary policy that initially includes a dollar or euro peg. Among his other tips: “Simplify the tax code with a low-rate flat tax” and “Be extremely cautious in attacking subsidies, especially those that benefit the poor, until the economy is in a true boom.”
Tags: Currency, Dollar, Economy, euro, Flat tax, India, Monetary policy, Narendra Modi, Peg, Poor, Steve Forbes, Subsidies, Tax code
Wall Street Journal (March 2)
“The fundamental economic issue facing America” is not headline-grabbing income inequality, but rather “jobs—their scarcity and the quality of those that people manage to find.” When the marginally employed are included, the real unemployment rate is closer to 13% and part-time jobs now account for 18% of the workforce. “Job losses in the low-wage and minimum-wage category is the critical issue of our day: Too many of the poor are not working full time or at all.”
Tags: Full-time, Income inequality, Job losses, Jobs, Minimum wage, Poor, Quality, Scarcity, U.S., Unemployment, Wages, Work, Workforce
Financial Times (February 6, 2014)
“In an era when much of the world is worried about the possibility of drifting into Japanese-style deflation, one country has precisely the opposite problem: unbridled inflation.” Over the last 5 years, India’s consumer prices have been rising annually by close to 10%. “That is no small matter for the multitudinous poor, for whom escalating food prices can summon the spectre of hunger. Nor does it do much for macroeconomic stability, which India badly needs in this year of tapering and tricky political transition.” Fortunately, new central bank governor Raghuram Rajan looks “up to the task.” With his tough policies, he may prove the Paul Volcker of India.
Tags: Central bank, CPI, Deflation, Food, Governor, Hunger, India, Inflation, Japan, Macroeconomics, Paul Volker, Poor, Raghuram Rajan, Stability
New York Times (February 13, 2012)
“The president’s budget calls for long-term deficit reduction, but its immediate priority is to encourage the fledgling economic recovery. Instead of trying to stabilize the budget on the backs of the poor, it would raise taxes on the wealthy and on big banks and eliminate many corporate tax loopholes.” Congress should pass this budget. Alas, Congress is “dysfunctional.” “The proposal will go nowhere, largely because of the Republican refusal to raise taxes on the wealthy and to spend money on vital programs.”
