.CLICK ON PIC TO ENLARGE..
Friday, February 29, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Railway Budget
New Delhi - Jammu Tawi train will ply daily.
Freight on petrol, diesel to be cut by 5%.
To cut fares for AC-I by 7%. AC-II by 4% and AC-III by 3%.
To cut sleeper fare by 5%.
New Railway lines to be introduced in Kashmir.
New Udaipur-Delhi bi-weekly train to be introduced.
New Railway hospital in Delhi to be fully airconditioned.
Minorities to get preference on recruitment board.
Modernisation of all rail workshops to be undertaken.
To start 53 new passenger trains. 10 new Garib Raths to be introduced.
All unmanned crossings to be now manned.
New rail-coach factory to be set up in Kerala.
Free season's tickets for female students till graduate level.
50 per cent discount for senior women citizens.
Increased concessions for under-graduate students.
State-of-the-art equipment for Railway Protection Force.
5 per cent job reservation for women in RPF.
Mother-child health express to be launched.
AIDS patients to be given special discounts.
Patna and Delhi stations to be upgraded.
Passenger trains to have anti-collision devices.
In talks with foreign companies for new wagon designs.
Metal detectors and CCTVs to be introduced on all platforms.
560 stations to be lengthened.
Mumbai's CST station to be upgraded.
Bulk handling terminals for Cement and foodgrains.
Public Address Systems for express trains.
Issuance of wait-listed e-tickets to be allowed.
Newly designed high-capacity wagons to be manufactured.
Plan to provide ticket booking via mobile phones.
To upgrade infrastructure in 7 years at Rs 75,000 cr.
50 big terminals planned in Mumbai, Pune, Gaziabad.
Plan to set up 20,000km of high density network.
Railway connectivity to ports to be increased.
New coaches in all Rajdhani trains by 2010.
6,000 automated ticket machines in two years.
30 big stations to have multi-level parking.
50 stations will have elevator and escalator facility.
To link trains via software communication by FY09.
Maintenance of trains to be handed over to private agencies.
To start making steel coaches from FY09.
Smart card based ticket system in the offing.
790 tonnes payload target achieved.
E-tickets to be available through vending machines.
Railway call centre scheme has been a huge success.
Ticket reservation would be possible from anywhere.
Railway fund balance up by Rs 40,298 cr.
Surcharge applied only in peak season.
Revenue from passenger fares increased by 14%.
Tremendous increase in productivity of railway assets.
Railway operating ratio at 76%
Rs 49,250 crore invested in new projects
Railways ended with a profit of Rs 25,000 crore in FY 2007-08
Lalu says, "I have earned crores for Railway in my tenure."
Lalu Prasad Yadav starts to present his 5th Rail Budget.
Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 noon.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
Highlights
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
To cut fares for AC-I by 7%. AC-II by 4% and AC-III by 3%. Sleeper fares cut by 5%
Railway employees to get 70-day bonus.
Mother-child express trains to have special medical facilities.
Special emphasis on security measures in Lalu's Budget.
No standing in long queues in two years.
Incresed transparency in all railway transactions.
New modernization schemes including elevator, escalator, multi-level car park, Vending machines for e-tickets, smart card based access in the offing.
Turnaround of the Indian Railways was due largely to the efforts of its 1.4 million employees.
Maintenance of trains especially Rajdhani and Shatabadi to be handed over to private agencies.
Lalu presents Part-A of the Rail Budget, which concerns with the macro picture. Part-C will carry his proposals.
'Will Lalu make the common man happy?.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
Markets
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
Prices/cheaper/dearer
more
Freight on petrol, diesel to be cut by 5%.
To cut fares for AC-I by 7%. AC-II by 4% and AC-III by 3%.
To cut sleeper fare by 5%.
New Railway lines to be introduced in Kashmir.
New Udaipur-Delhi bi-weekly train to be introduced.
New Railway hospital in Delhi to be fully airconditioned.
Minorities to get preference on recruitment board.
Modernisation of all rail workshops to be undertaken.
To start 53 new passenger trains. 10 new Garib Raths to be introduced.
All unmanned crossings to be now manned.
New rail-coach factory to be set up in Kerala.
Free season's tickets for female students till graduate level.
50 per cent discount for senior women citizens.
Increased concessions for under-graduate students.
State-of-the-art equipment for Railway Protection Force.
5 per cent job reservation for women in RPF.
Mother-child health express to be launched.
AIDS patients to be given special discounts.
Patna and Delhi stations to be upgraded.
Passenger trains to have anti-collision devices.
In talks with foreign companies for new wagon designs.
Metal detectors and CCTVs to be introduced on all platforms.
560 stations to be lengthened.
Mumbai's CST station to be upgraded.
Bulk handling terminals for Cement and foodgrains.
Public Address Systems for express trains.
Issuance of wait-listed e-tickets to be allowed.
Newly designed high-capacity wagons to be manufactured.
Plan to provide ticket booking via mobile phones.
To upgrade infrastructure in 7 years at Rs 75,000 cr.
50 big terminals planned in Mumbai, Pune, Gaziabad.
Plan to set up 20,000km of high density network.
Railway connectivity to ports to be increased.
New coaches in all Rajdhani trains by 2010.
6,000 automated ticket machines in two years.
30 big stations to have multi-level parking.
50 stations will have elevator and escalator facility.
To link trains via software communication by FY09.
Maintenance of trains to be handed over to private agencies.
To start making steel coaches from FY09.
Smart card based ticket system in the offing.
790 tonnes payload target achieved.
E-tickets to be available through vending machines.
Railway call centre scheme has been a huge success.
Ticket reservation would be possible from anywhere.
Railway fund balance up by Rs 40,298 cr.
Surcharge applied only in peak season.
Revenue from passenger fares increased by 14%.
Tremendous increase in productivity of railway assets.
Railway operating ratio at 76%
Rs 49,250 crore invested in new projects
Railways ended with a profit of Rs 25,000 crore in FY 2007-08
Lalu says, "I have earned crores for Railway in my tenure."
Lalu Prasad Yadav starts to present his 5th Rail Budget.
Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 noon.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model of how the internet is being leveraged successfully.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals, exchanges, e-tailing, auctions, and intermediaries.
Highlights
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
To cut fares for AC-I by 7%. AC-II by 4% and AC-III by 3%. Sleeper fares cut by 5%
Railway employees to get 70-day bonus.
Mother-child express trains to have special medical facilities.
Special emphasis on security measures in Lalu's Budget.
No standing in long queues in two years.
Incresed transparency in all railway transactions.
New modernization schemes including elevator, escalator, multi-level car park, Vending machines for e-tickets, smart card based access in the offing.
Turnaround of the Indian Railways was due largely to the efforts of its 1.4 million employees.
Maintenance of trains especially Rajdhani and Shatabadi to be handed over to private agencies.
Lalu presents Part-A of the Rail Budget, which concerns with the macro picture. Part-C will carry his proposals.
'Will Lalu make the common man happy?.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
Markets
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
The Indian Railways initiative on e-ticketing using the internet is a classic model.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
Startup firms used the internet to create new business models such as portals.
Prices/cheaper/dearer
more
Monday, February 25, 2008
Dollar
United States dollar
For details of current paper money and coins, see Federal Reserve Note and Coins of the United States dollar.
Pegged by
21 currencies
Aruban florinBahamian dollarBahraini dinarBarbadian dollarBelize dollarBelarusian rubleBermudian dollarCayman Islands dollarCuban convertible pesoDjiboutian francEast Caribbean dollarEritrean nakfaHong Kong dollar (narrow band)Jordanian dinarLebanese poundMaldivian rufiyaaNetherlands Antillean guldenOmani rialQatari riyalSaudi riyalUnited Arab Emirates dirham
The dollar (currency code USD) is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar has also been adopted as the official and legal currency by the governments in a few other countries. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents.
Adopted by the Congress of the Confederation of the United States on July 6, 1785,[2] the U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions.[3] Several countries use the U.S. dollar as their official currency, and many others allow it to be used in a de facto capacity.[4] In 1995, over US $380 billion were in circulation, two-thirds of which was outside the United States. By 2005, that figure had doubled to nearly $760 billion, with an estimated half to two-thirds being held overseas,[5] representing an annual growth rate of about 7.6%. However, as of December 2006, the dollar was surpassed by the euro in terms of combined value of cash in circulation.[6] Since then the current value of euro cash in circulation has risen to more than €695 billion, equivalent to US$1,029 billion at current exchange rates.[7]
Contents
1 Overview
2 Etymology
2.1 Nicknames
3 Dollar sign
4 History
4.1 Continental currency
4.2 Silver and gold standards
5 Coins
6 Banknotes
7 Value
7.1 Factors influencing the price
7.2 Time-relative value
8 International use
8.1 Dollar versus euro
8.2 The dollar as the major international reserve currency
8.3 US Dollar Index
8.4 Dollarization and fixed exchange rates
9 Exchange rates
9.1 Historical exchange rates
10 See also
11 References
12 External links
12.1 Images of U.S. currency and coins
more
Article Excerpt
IT IS TIME the United States wakes up to a serious problem. The dollar is increasingly losing the position it has enjoyed for nearly half a century as the world's currency of last resort. And as that happens, the advantages we have gleaned from that status--the ability to finance our twin fiscal and trade deficits while keeping our interest rates low--will also be lost. And yet no one, particularly in Washington, seems overly concerned. The world is awash in dollars right now, and the situation cannot last. My concern is that many in this country continue to have unrealistic views about the sustainability of the status quo. Yes, our domestic economy is doing reasonably well--we have modest but real growth, inflation is quiet, the stock market is booming. But we also have not done anything to address an out-of-control federal government budget deficit and the ongoing huge trade deficits we run up with other nations. How long will other countries continue to provide us with our credit card? Other countries may no longer be willing to provide Washington with a blank check--literally. China's enormous trade surpluses with the United States have generated more than one trillion dollars worth...NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
more
China Ends Fixed-Rate Currency
Administration Hails Policy Shift
By Peter S. GoodmanWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, July 22, 2005; Page A01
SHANGHAI, July 21 -- China on Thursday took an important step forward in its move toward a market economy, announcing it would increase the value of its currency, the yuan, and abandon its decade-old fixed exchange rate to the U.S. dollar in favor of a link to a basket of world currencies.
The evening announcement on state television delivered China's first concrete move toward allowing the yuan -- also known as the renminbi -- to eventually float freely at the whim of global traders.
Currency Evaluation
The Goal
Under a "float," which China says it wants someday, a currency rises and falls on global markets according to supply and demand. This is the system that applies to many major currencies such as the U.S. dollar, the euro and British pound.
The Old System
Under a "peg," which China has had since 1995, the currency's value is fixed - in China's case, at 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar.
The New System
Under a "managed float," which China adopted yesterday, the currency can rise and fall but only within prescribed limits.
THE WASHINGTON POST
Friday, 11 a.m. ET
Chinese Currency ChangeMarc Miles, director of the Center for International Trade and Economics at The Heritage Foundation, discusses China's announcement Thursday that it will no longer tie the value of its currency to the U.S. dollar.
Background
China's Currency May Float a Little
Senators Told China Will Loosen Policy On Currency
China Rejects Global Pressure To Change Policy on Currency
Washingtonpost.com Talk
Share Your Thoughts
,'China on Thursday took an important step forward in its move toward a market economy, announcing it would increase the value of its currency, the yuan, and abandon its decade-old fixed exchange rate to the U.S. dollar in favor of a link to a basket of world currencies.','Peter S. Goodman') ;
The move eased tensions between China and the United States on a key source of trade friction. The White House, pressured by manufacturers and vocal members of Congress, has lobbied China to raise the value of its currency, arguing that a low-priced yuan has unfairly kept Chinese goods artificially cheap.
The Chinese move was welcomed heartily by the Bush administration.
"They've put in place a mechanism that provides room for significant movement over time in the currency, and they've expressed a commitment to using market forces to let the currency move," Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said at a news conference. "I think today's developments are extremely positive."
China's most strenuous critics in the United States have demanded that Beijing increase the value of its currency by at least 10 percent. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) have been pressing a bill that would impose across-the-board punitive tariffs of 27.5 percent against Chinese imports if China does not substantially raise the value of the yuan. Last month, the two senators delayed the vote after saying they had been assured by Snow and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that a Chinese revaluation was imminent.
The details of China's announced shift fell short of their demands. In a statement posted on its Web site, China's central bank said it would on Friday free the yuan to rise to 8.11 from its current 8.28 to the dollar -- an increase of about 2.1 percent. The bank also said it would allow the yuan to move within a trading range of 0.3 percent above or below the previous day's closing price, continuing its "managed float" policy.
The change garnered measured praise from Schumer: "It is smaller than we hoped," the senator said in a news conference. "But to paraphrase the Chinese philosophers, a trip of a thousand miles can well begin with the first baby step. And the fact that they have opened the door to future increases of 0.3 percent makes us feel and hope that this is not the last."
Analysts said Thursday's movement was probably only the beginning of a series of measures that will eventually allow the yuan to move in a broader trading band with other currencies and to float freely -- albeit not for several years.
"The new managed floating currency regime is just an interim system," said He Fan, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. "There is a chance of a further widening of the band in the not-distant future, but it will go step by step."
Others suggested that Beijing was not likely to move again anytime soon. "I believe this revaluation will stay in place for the next 24 months," said Yu Nanping, an economist at East China Normal University in Shanghai.
In a sign of China's regional economic influence, Malaysia on Thursday followed with its own announcement that it, too, is allowing its currency, the ringgit, to float within a proscribed trading band. By contrast, Hong Kong announced it would retain its currency peg to the U.S. dollar.
CONTINUED 1
document.write('2')
2
more
The Euro as an International Currency: An Evaluation of the Challenge to the Dollar Based on Currency Reserves and the Exchange Rate Ekaterina Kouznetsova, B.A. (Awarded in 2007)Economics
Adviser: Matteo Iacoviello
Download the Thesis (594 K, 63 p., PDF file)
Tell a colleague about it.
ABSTRACT:
Since its launch, the euro has successfully achieved the status of an international currency, and the prospect of its ability to challenge the dollar is increasingly credible. This paper supplements the ongoing academic discussion by reevaluating the characteristics necessary for such a position in light of the most recent information available on the euro area, and then providing econometric evidence as support. I regress the lags of shares of dollar and euro reserves on the current shares and predict steady state values for each currency. I then regress the same lags, as well as the exchange rate lag, on the change in the euro/dollar exchange rate. I find, first, that the share of euro reserves, while still not as high as the share of dollars, is nonetheless significant: about 26%. Second, the euro/dollar exchange rate is only slightly affected by changes in the share of either currency’s reserves. I conclude that confidence in the euro as an alternative international currency is growing, and that the euro has become a real challenge to the dollar.
more
The US dollar, the euro, and the yen: An evaluation of their present and future status as international currencies
Beckmann, Rainer, Born, Jürgen and Kösters, Wim (2001): The US dollar, the euro, and the yen: An evaluation of their present and future status as international currencies. Published in: IEW Diskussionsbeiträge 38 (2001)
Full text available as:
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader172Kb
Abstract
The process of European integration and especially the introduction of the euro as the single currency for up to now 12 member countries of the EU in 1999 may alter the existing clear currency hierarchy. The euro area is comparable in size to the US with respect to GDP and even exceeds the US regarding the share in world trade. Thus questions arise of whether the international monetary system turns out to be bipolar in the long run or whether the yen can also play its part.It turns out that real activity, size and sophistication of financial markets, monetary and financial stability and inertia are the most prominent characteristics making a currency to be preferred on a world-wide level.We thus conclude that the integration and the development of European financial markets are of special importance for a stronger international role of the dollar, but that the historical experience of only gradually changing supremacy of international currencies still applies.
more
For details of current paper money and coins, see Federal Reserve Note and Coins of the United States dollar.
Pegged by
21 currencies
Aruban florinBahamian dollarBahraini dinarBarbadian dollarBelize dollarBelarusian rubleBermudian dollarCayman Islands dollarCuban convertible pesoDjiboutian francEast Caribbean dollarEritrean nakfaHong Kong dollar (narrow band)Jordanian dinarLebanese poundMaldivian rufiyaaNetherlands Antillean guldenOmani rialQatari riyalSaudi riyalUnited Arab Emirates dirham
The dollar (currency code USD) is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar has also been adopted as the official and legal currency by the governments in a few other countries. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents.
Adopted by the Congress of the Confederation of the United States on July 6, 1785,[2] the U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions.[3] Several countries use the U.S. dollar as their official currency, and many others allow it to be used in a de facto capacity.[4] In 1995, over US $380 billion were in circulation, two-thirds of which was outside the United States. By 2005, that figure had doubled to nearly $760 billion, with an estimated half to two-thirds being held overseas,[5] representing an annual growth rate of about 7.6%. However, as of December 2006, the dollar was surpassed by the euro in terms of combined value of cash in circulation.[6] Since then the current value of euro cash in circulation has risen to more than €695 billion, equivalent to US$1,029 billion at current exchange rates.[7]
Contents
1 Overview
2 Etymology
2.1 Nicknames
3 Dollar sign
4 History
4.1 Continental currency
4.2 Silver and gold standards
5 Coins
6 Banknotes
7 Value
7.1 Factors influencing the price
7.2 Time-relative value
8 International use
8.1 Dollar versus euro
8.2 The dollar as the major international reserve currency
8.3 US Dollar Index
8.4 Dollarization and fixed exchange rates
9 Exchange rates
9.1 Historical exchange rates
10 See also
11 References
12 External links
12.1 Images of U.S. currency and coins
more
Article Excerpt
IT IS TIME the United States wakes up to a serious problem. The dollar is increasingly losing the position it has enjoyed for nearly half a century as the world's currency of last resort. And as that happens, the advantages we have gleaned from that status--the ability to finance our twin fiscal and trade deficits while keeping our interest rates low--will also be lost. And yet no one, particularly in Washington, seems overly concerned. The world is awash in dollars right now, and the situation cannot last. My concern is that many in this country continue to have unrealistic views about the sustainability of the status quo. Yes, our domestic economy is doing reasonably well--we have modest but real growth, inflation is quiet, the stock market is booming. But we also have not done anything to address an out-of-control federal government budget deficit and the ongoing huge trade deficits we run up with other nations. How long will other countries continue to provide us with our credit card? Other countries may no longer be willing to provide Washington with a blank check--literally. China's enormous trade surpluses with the United States have generated more than one trillion dollars worth...NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
more
China Ends Fixed-Rate Currency
Administration Hails Policy Shift
By Peter S. GoodmanWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, July 22, 2005; Page A01
SHANGHAI, July 21 -- China on Thursday took an important step forward in its move toward a market economy, announcing it would increase the value of its currency, the yuan, and abandon its decade-old fixed exchange rate to the U.S. dollar in favor of a link to a basket of world currencies.
The evening announcement on state television delivered China's first concrete move toward allowing the yuan -- also known as the renminbi -- to eventually float freely at the whim of global traders.
Currency Evaluation
The Goal
Under a "float," which China says it wants someday, a currency rises and falls on global markets according to supply and demand. This is the system that applies to many major currencies such as the U.S. dollar, the euro and British pound.
The Old System
Under a "peg," which China has had since 1995, the currency's value is fixed - in China's case, at 8.28 yuan per U.S. dollar.
The New System
Under a "managed float," which China adopted yesterday, the currency can rise and fall but only within prescribed limits.
THE WASHINGTON POST
Friday, 11 a.m. ET
Chinese Currency ChangeMarc Miles, director of the Center for International Trade and Economics at The Heritage Foundation, discusses China's announcement Thursday that it will no longer tie the value of its currency to the U.S. dollar.
Background
China's Currency May Float a Little
Senators Told China Will Loosen Policy On Currency
China Rejects Global Pressure To Change Policy on Currency
Washingtonpost.com Talk
Share Your Thoughts
,'China on Thursday took an important step forward in its move toward a market economy, announcing it would increase the value of its currency, the yuan, and abandon its decade-old fixed exchange rate to the U.S. dollar in favor of a link to a basket of world currencies.','Peter S. Goodman') ;
The move eased tensions between China and the United States on a key source of trade friction. The White House, pressured by manufacturers and vocal members of Congress, has lobbied China to raise the value of its currency, arguing that a low-priced yuan has unfairly kept Chinese goods artificially cheap.
The Chinese move was welcomed heartily by the Bush administration.
"They've put in place a mechanism that provides room for significant movement over time in the currency, and they've expressed a commitment to using market forces to let the currency move," Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said at a news conference. "I think today's developments are extremely positive."
China's most strenuous critics in the United States have demanded that Beijing increase the value of its currency by at least 10 percent. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) have been pressing a bill that would impose across-the-board punitive tariffs of 27.5 percent against Chinese imports if China does not substantially raise the value of the yuan. Last month, the two senators delayed the vote after saying they had been assured by Snow and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that a Chinese revaluation was imminent.
The details of China's announced shift fell short of their demands. In a statement posted on its Web site, China's central bank said it would on Friday free the yuan to rise to 8.11 from its current 8.28 to the dollar -- an increase of about 2.1 percent. The bank also said it would allow the yuan to move within a trading range of 0.3 percent above or below the previous day's closing price, continuing its "managed float" policy.
The change garnered measured praise from Schumer: "It is smaller than we hoped," the senator said in a news conference. "But to paraphrase the Chinese philosophers, a trip of a thousand miles can well begin with the first baby step. And the fact that they have opened the door to future increases of 0.3 percent makes us feel and hope that this is not the last."
Analysts said Thursday's movement was probably only the beginning of a series of measures that will eventually allow the yuan to move in a broader trading band with other currencies and to float freely -- albeit not for several years.
"The new managed floating currency regime is just an interim system," said He Fan, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. "There is a chance of a further widening of the band in the not-distant future, but it will go step by step."
Others suggested that Beijing was not likely to move again anytime soon. "I believe this revaluation will stay in place for the next 24 months," said Yu Nanping, an economist at East China Normal University in Shanghai.
In a sign of China's regional economic influence, Malaysia on Thursday followed with its own announcement that it, too, is allowing its currency, the ringgit, to float within a proscribed trading band. By contrast, Hong Kong announced it would retain its currency peg to the U.S. dollar.
CONTINUED 1
document.write('2')
2
more
The Euro as an International Currency: An Evaluation of the Challenge to the Dollar Based on Currency Reserves and the Exchange Rate Ekaterina Kouznetsova, B.A. (Awarded in 2007)Economics
Adviser: Matteo Iacoviello
Download the Thesis (594 K, 63 p., PDF file)
Tell a colleague about it.
ABSTRACT:
Since its launch, the euro has successfully achieved the status of an international currency, and the prospect of its ability to challenge the dollar is increasingly credible. This paper supplements the ongoing academic discussion by reevaluating the characteristics necessary for such a position in light of the most recent information available on the euro area, and then providing econometric evidence as support. I regress the lags of shares of dollar and euro reserves on the current shares and predict steady state values for each currency. I then regress the same lags, as well as the exchange rate lag, on the change in the euro/dollar exchange rate. I find, first, that the share of euro reserves, while still not as high as the share of dollars, is nonetheless significant: about 26%. Second, the euro/dollar exchange rate is only slightly affected by changes in the share of either currency’s reserves. I conclude that confidence in the euro as an alternative international currency is growing, and that the euro has become a real challenge to the dollar.
more
The US dollar, the euro, and the yen: An evaluation of their present and future status as international currencies
Beckmann, Rainer, Born, Jürgen and Kösters, Wim (2001): The US dollar, the euro, and the yen: An evaluation of their present and future status as international currencies. Published in: IEW Diskussionsbeiträge 38 (2001)
Full text available as:
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader172Kb
Abstract
The process of European integration and especially the introduction of the euro as the single currency for up to now 12 member countries of the EU in 1999 may alter the existing clear currency hierarchy. The euro area is comparable in size to the US with respect to GDP and even exceeds the US regarding the share in world trade. Thus questions arise of whether the international monetary system turns out to be bipolar in the long run or whether the yen can also play its part.It turns out that real activity, size and sophistication of financial markets, monetary and financial stability and inertia are the most prominent characteristics making a currency to be preferred on a world-wide level.We thus conclude that the integration and the development of European financial markets are of special importance for a stronger international role of the dollar, but that the historical experience of only gradually changing supremacy of international currencies still applies.
more
US recession
US recession: The Big Daddy grows old
By Haresh Soneji & Shravan Sreenivasula, CNBC-TV18
Knock Knock.
Who’s It?
Recession.
Recession Who?
The US recession leading the world to a slowdown.
Yes, a lot of people will talk. A lot of people are talking. People will debate. People will criticise. But, people won't forget this for sure for a long long time. This is something that will affect everybody - the US recession. Believe it or not, it’s on. And as they, when America sneezes, the world catches cold.
You may argue that things are changing. We are sure, it will in the long run along the normal curve. But, in the short term, US will affect the world.
CNBC-TV18 does some fact finding and digs out some hard clues for you; look at some of these charts for a clearer picture -
Consumer confidence is falling drastically. Now, almost at its all time low -a 22% drop from its high in July '07.
Home sales data is the lowest ever. Falling consistently since the peak of April ‘05. Down 50% since then. And fallen 26% since April ‘07. The speed has increased.
more
By Haresh Soneji & Shravan Sreenivasula, CNBC-TV18
Knock Knock.
Who’s It?
Recession.
Recession Who?
The US recession leading the world to a slowdown.
Yes, a lot of people will talk. A lot of people are talking. People will debate. People will criticise. But, people won't forget this for sure for a long long time. This is something that will affect everybody - the US recession. Believe it or not, it’s on. And as they, when America sneezes, the world catches cold.
You may argue that things are changing. We are sure, it will in the long run along the normal curve. But, in the short term, US will affect the world.
CNBC-TV18 does some fact finding and digs out some hard clues for you; look at some of these charts for a clearer picture -
Consumer confidence is falling drastically. Now, almost at its all time low -a 22% drop from its high in July '07.
Home sales data is the lowest ever. Falling consistently since the peak of April ‘05. Down 50% since then. And fallen 26% since April ‘07. The speed has increased.
more
The Facts On The Sub-Prime Mortgage Meltdown
By Terry Keenan
CorbisImages
Ted Turner.
Confused about what the sub-prime mortgage meltdown means for the economy and your money?
Well first, let's call a spade a spade. These risky mortgages aren't really so complex or exotic —they're junk mortgages, plain and simple. Sub-prime is just a euphemism bankers have whipped up to disguise their risk.
It's been a familiar theme in the last few years, as other Wall Street word-meisters have taken to re-labeling risk as well. Leveraged buy-out firms are now called "private equity" shops, junk bonds now are "high yield," and hedge funds are supposedly, well ... hedged. It's a far cry from 20 years ago, when Drexel Burnham was firing up its junk bond machine.
Back then, CNN founder Ted Turner had no problem boasting that junk bonds were for "people who couldn't borrow from the bank." He was right. And while Turner Broadcasting survived, Drexel and hundreds of other high-yield borrowers didn't. The fallout helped to exacerbate the Savings and Loan crisis, the real estate bust of the early 90s, and the recession of 1991-92. But at least investors were warned of the risk — the bonds belonged in the junkyard when it came to credit quality.
Not so this time around. Although the housing bears have been warning the risky features of mortgage lending in recent years, those cautious few were laughed off. Few really talked about just how "sub" the sub-prime borrower really was.
Well, now we know. Not only were millions able to borrow with no money down, no proof of income, not even proof of legal status, the Mortgage Bankers Association now says nearly 14 percent of those junky borrowers were delinquent on their mortgage payments at the end of 2006 — even with the economy at near full employment.
Now that it's all over, except the crying, Washington is wading into the mess. With estimates floating around this week that 2.2 million Americans may lose their homes to foreclosure, Democrats are calling for hearings into so-called "predatory" lending practices. Yes, the very same lawmakers who turned a blind's eye to years of lax lending in their own backyard (at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) now want to turn millions of Americans into victims of the housing boom they championed.
It's going to get messy, and that's why investors are frightened, and rightly so. As in the wake of other financial crises such as Enron, Orange County and Long Term Capital, the Fed, lawmakers and lenders are cracking now that the game has come to an end. Where were they to protect unqualified borrowers a year or two ago, when the trashy mortgage party was just kicking off?
What the market is saying is that the hangover is here and it's going to be a doozy. Mortgages will be far harder to come by, down payments will go way up, home prices will continue to go down, and the money machine that was the $6.5 trillion mortgage industry will grind to a halt. That will hit the brokerage stocks, the banks, the homebuilders and the housing products stocks right in the bottom-line.
And with those companies making up more than 30 percent of the value of the S&P 500, there's likely more fallout to come.
Terry Keenan is anchor of Cashin’ In and is a FOX News Channel business correspondent. Tune in to Cashin' In on Saturdays at 11:30am and find out what you need to know to make your money grow and keep what you already have!
more
Sub-prime mortgage market -Some facts and data
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:26:09 GMTby Peter Possing Andersen
Danske Bank A/S
The sub-prime mortgage market
The sub-prime market is the part of the mortgage market devoted to borrowers with a less than perfect or bad credit record.
According to the latest MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) figures the sub-prime sector makes up13.7% of the total mortgage market.
Sub-prime borrowers face higher costs due to their lower credit standards and higher risk of delinquency.
The sub-prime market covers the same spectre of available loan types as the prime market: adjustable rate mortgages (ARM), fixed rate mortgages (FRM) etc.
Contents
The structure of the US mortgage market
Sub-prime as a share of total mortgages.
Sub-prime delinquencies
Sub-prime foreclosures
Prime delinquencies
Prime foreclosures
Delinquencies and foreclosures -all mortgage loans
Tighter mortgage credit standards
No signs of distress in broad credit measures.
Consumer balance sheets remain healthy
What are the concerns?
A bust in the sub-prime market impacting the financial sector negatively
Households with loans in the sub-prime market cutting back consumption due to credit distress
Prime lending standards tightening and feeding negatively into a broad consumer slowdown
Is this the first sign of liquidity drying out?
Our take on the macroeconomic impacts #1
No doubt that the problems in the sub-prime market are serious.
The sub-prime jitters could be an early warning of more widespread trouble in the credit market, with negative macroeconomic consequences.
While signs of such developments should be watched closely, we expect the problems to remain contained within the sub-prime sector.
At present there are no signs of distress in neither the prime mortgage market or other segments of the consumer credit markets.
Our take on the macroeconomic impacts #2
With the economy remaining sound outside the housing market (i.e. healthy household and corporate balance sheets, continued job growth and high income growth) the conditions for a credit crunch are not present.
Moreover, we do not expect a major outright drop in house prices. That said, mortgage credit standards are likely to be tightened further going forward.
However, given the present situation we do not expect aggregate consumer spending to enjoy any major spill-over from the crisis in the sub-prime mortgage sector.
As a whole we expect no large ramifications on the macro economy from the sub-prime crisis.
Download full Sub-prime mortgage market with charts
more
CorbisImages
Ted Turner.
Confused about what the sub-prime mortgage meltdown means for the economy and your money?
Well first, let's call a spade a spade. These risky mortgages aren't really so complex or exotic —they're junk mortgages, plain and simple. Sub-prime is just a euphemism bankers have whipped up to disguise their risk.
It's been a familiar theme in the last few years, as other Wall Street word-meisters have taken to re-labeling risk as well. Leveraged buy-out firms are now called "private equity" shops, junk bonds now are "high yield," and hedge funds are supposedly, well ... hedged. It's a far cry from 20 years ago, when Drexel Burnham was firing up its junk bond machine.
Back then, CNN founder Ted Turner had no problem boasting that junk bonds were for "people who couldn't borrow from the bank." He was right. And while Turner Broadcasting survived, Drexel and hundreds of other high-yield borrowers didn't. The fallout helped to exacerbate the Savings and Loan crisis, the real estate bust of the early 90s, and the recession of 1991-92. But at least investors were warned of the risk — the bonds belonged in the junkyard when it came to credit quality.
Not so this time around. Although the housing bears have been warning the risky features of mortgage lending in recent years, those cautious few were laughed off. Few really talked about just how "sub" the sub-prime borrower really was.
Well, now we know. Not only were millions able to borrow with no money down, no proof of income, not even proof of legal status, the Mortgage Bankers Association now says nearly 14 percent of those junky borrowers were delinquent on their mortgage payments at the end of 2006 — even with the economy at near full employment.
Now that it's all over, except the crying, Washington is wading into the mess. With estimates floating around this week that 2.2 million Americans may lose their homes to foreclosure, Democrats are calling for hearings into so-called "predatory" lending practices. Yes, the very same lawmakers who turned a blind's eye to years of lax lending in their own backyard (at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) now want to turn millions of Americans into victims of the housing boom they championed.
It's going to get messy, and that's why investors are frightened, and rightly so. As in the wake of other financial crises such as Enron, Orange County and Long Term Capital, the Fed, lawmakers and lenders are cracking now that the game has come to an end. Where were they to protect unqualified borrowers a year or two ago, when the trashy mortgage party was just kicking off?
What the market is saying is that the hangover is here and it's going to be a doozy. Mortgages will be far harder to come by, down payments will go way up, home prices will continue to go down, and the money machine that was the $6.5 trillion mortgage industry will grind to a halt. That will hit the brokerage stocks, the banks, the homebuilders and the housing products stocks right in the bottom-line.
And with those companies making up more than 30 percent of the value of the S&P 500, there's likely more fallout to come.
Terry Keenan is anchor of Cashin’ In and is a FOX News Channel business correspondent. Tune in to Cashin' In on Saturdays at 11:30am and find out what you need to know to make your money grow and keep what you already have!
more
Sub-prime mortgage market -Some facts and data
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 15:26:09 GMTby Peter Possing Andersen
Danske Bank A/S
The sub-prime mortgage market
The sub-prime market is the part of the mortgage market devoted to borrowers with a less than perfect or bad credit record.
According to the latest MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) figures the sub-prime sector makes up13.7% of the total mortgage market.
Sub-prime borrowers face higher costs due to their lower credit standards and higher risk of delinquency.
The sub-prime market covers the same spectre of available loan types as the prime market: adjustable rate mortgages (ARM), fixed rate mortgages (FRM) etc.
Contents
The structure of the US mortgage market
Sub-prime as a share of total mortgages.
Sub-prime delinquencies
Sub-prime foreclosures
Prime delinquencies
Prime foreclosures
Delinquencies and foreclosures -all mortgage loans
Tighter mortgage credit standards
No signs of distress in broad credit measures.
Consumer balance sheets remain healthy
What are the concerns?
A bust in the sub-prime market impacting the financial sector negatively
Households with loans in the sub-prime market cutting back consumption due to credit distress
Prime lending standards tightening and feeding negatively into a broad consumer slowdown
Is this the first sign of liquidity drying out?
Our take on the macroeconomic impacts #1
No doubt that the problems in the sub-prime market are serious.
The sub-prime jitters could be an early warning of more widespread trouble in the credit market, with negative macroeconomic consequences.
While signs of such developments should be watched closely, we expect the problems to remain contained within the sub-prime sector.
At present there are no signs of distress in neither the prime mortgage market or other segments of the consumer credit markets.
Our take on the macroeconomic impacts #2
With the economy remaining sound outside the housing market (i.e. healthy household and corporate balance sheets, continued job growth and high income growth) the conditions for a credit crunch are not present.
Moreover, we do not expect a major outright drop in house prices. That said, mortgage credit standards are likely to be tightened further going forward.
However, given the present situation we do not expect aggregate consumer spending to enjoy any major spill-over from the crisis in the sub-prime mortgage sector.
As a whole we expect no large ramifications on the macro economy from the sub-prime crisis.
Download full Sub-prime mortgage market with charts
more
German Bank Blames UBS for Subprime Hit
By Carrick Mollenkamp
Word Count: 397 Companies Featured in This Article: UBS, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch
HSH Nordbank AG said Swiss bank UBS AG sold it $500 million in securities tied to U.S. subprime mortgages that have since soured, in the latest case of a midtier German lender to be singed by the slump in the U.S. mortgage market.
HSH, which specializes in shipping finance, joins a growing number of investors around the world, including municipalities in the U.S. and Australia, that fault the banks that packaged and sold the investments. HSH said yesterday in a ...
get scholarships, help page
Objective:
Mukund Chandak,
VJTI, Mumbai
“We aspire to provide help to the economically weak but brilliant brains throughout the world in general, but developing countries and rural areas, in specific, so as to help in making them capable of something they have in themselves”
We the students of VJTI believe that every child has a right to education and no student should be deprived of education for the need of funds. We observed that if a student is sure that his education will not be interrupted due to lack of money he can work more efficiently. There are many trusts that provide a helping hand to the needy students. But at present there is no way for students to know how to contact these trusts. As a small step towards completion of this mission we are trying to provide a database enlisting the details of various organizations which provide the necessary resources for fulfilling the dreams of these bright students
Mukund Chandak,
VJTI, Mumbai
“We aspire to provide help to the economically weak but brilliant brains throughout the world in general, but developing countries and rural areas, in specific, so as to help in making them capable of something they have in themselves”
We the students of VJTI believe that every child has a right to education and no student should be deprived of education for the need of funds. We observed that if a student is sure that his education will not be interrupted due to lack of money he can work more efficiently. There are many trusts that provide a helping hand to the needy students. But at present there is no way for students to know how to contact these trusts. As a small step towards completion of this mission we are trying to provide a database enlisting the details of various organizations which provide the necessary resources for fulfilling the dreams of these bright students
Hillary sings Obama tune to oppose outsourcing
Hillary, who had in the past refused to join the anti-outsourcing bandwagon, has been perceived as a fence sitter on the issue till now
Washington: Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has joined party rival Barak Obama in promising an end to tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, playing to the gallery on the hot-button issue of outsourcing as she tries to resuscitate her White House bid.
“We are going to rid the tax code of these loopholes and giveaways. We’re going to stop giving a penny of your money to anybody who ships a job out of Texas, Ohio or anywhere else to another country,” Hillary said during a debate with Obama at University of Texas in Austin.
Hillary, who had in the past refused to join the anti-outsourcing bandwagon, has been perceived as a fence sitter on the issue till now.
Taking a cue from Obama, who has been fiercely opposing outsourcing, the 60-year-old, who is banking on March 4 contests in Ohio and Texas to revive her fading campaign, appeared to be joining the hardliners in an effort to attract the blue-collared workers.
“You don’t need an economist or the Federal Reserve to tell the American people that the economy’s in trouble, because they’ve been experiencing it for years now,” Obama said last night.
Promising to restore “a sense of fairness and balance” to the US economy, he said “we’ve got to stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas and invest those tax breaks in companies that are investing here in the United States of America.”
Clinton agreed, “We are going to rid the tax code of these loopholes and giveaways. We’re going to stop giving a penny of your money to anybody who ships a job out of Texas, Ohio or anywhere else to another country.”
Find More Articles On:
Clinton Outsourcing Obama Election Campaign Hillary
more
Washington: Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has joined party rival Barak Obama in promising an end to tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, playing to the gallery on the hot-button issue of outsourcing as she tries to resuscitate her White House bid.
“We are going to rid the tax code of these loopholes and giveaways. We’re going to stop giving a penny of your money to anybody who ships a job out of Texas, Ohio or anywhere else to another country,” Hillary said during a debate with Obama at University of Texas in Austin.
Hillary, who had in the past refused to join the anti-outsourcing bandwagon, has been perceived as a fence sitter on the issue till now.
Taking a cue from Obama, who has been fiercely opposing outsourcing, the 60-year-old, who is banking on March 4 contests in Ohio and Texas to revive her fading campaign, appeared to be joining the hardliners in an effort to attract the blue-collared workers.
“You don’t need an economist or the Federal Reserve to tell the American people that the economy’s in trouble, because they’ve been experiencing it for years now,” Obama said last night.
Promising to restore “a sense of fairness and balance” to the US economy, he said “we’ve got to stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas and invest those tax breaks in companies that are investing here in the United States of America.”
Clinton agreed, “We are going to rid the tax code of these loopholes and giveaways. We’re going to stop giving a penny of your money to anybody who ships a job out of Texas, Ohio or anywhere else to another country.”
Find More Articles On:
Clinton Outsourcing Obama Election Campaign Hillary
more
What the Indian FM should do
Abolish income tax and look at other ways to ensure that India does not slip into an economic crisis
Subramanian Swamy
Congress party leaders have let the cat out of the bag and publicly deflated finance minister (FM) P. Chidambaram in a most embarrassing way. According to a well-placed media leak, a conclave of 38 party leaders told the FM that this year they would like to have a Budget “that caters to the aam aadmi”. Thus, they told him, inflation and farmers’ woes must be combated head-on and relief given concretely. No more esoteric dream budget rhetoric, they told him.
(Jayachandran/Mint)The implication of this directive is that the last four budgets Chidambaram presented did not cater to the aam aadmi, and that today inflation is rampant and farmers are in distress. Thus the globetrotting FM was rudely brought down on desi soil and given a reality check by the party itself.
Despite high GDP growth, the internal organs of the Indian economy are not healthy today. This is alarming. Any fast growing economy can collapse suddenly, as the 1997 experience of the East Asian economies showed.
These are the principal ills in the economy right now.
1. Jobless, low-productivity growth. High growth rates are not generating enough jobs, which have been growing at 2.25% a year since 1999-2000. However, to progressively reduce the unemployment backlog, absorb excess farm labour into industry and provide for the new entrants in the labour market, jobs must grow at about 3.5% a year. At the same time, the economy must raise productivity of labour and capital through induced innovations and new management practices, so that higher and higher investment rates would not be needed to sustain growth. Hence, in the Budget there must be adequate provision for encouragement of labour-using instead of labour-substituting technology. There should also be provisions to promote innovation through radical tax breaks. This means the education sector has to be nurtured in the Budget.
2. Lack of agricultural reforms. The growth rate in agriculture should be at least 4% annually to ensure that 8-10% GDP growth is sustainable. But since 1997, agriculture has shown a trend rate of 2.5%, with wide fluctuations year to year, due to lack of reforms, declining public investment, and poor, even pre-modern, infrastructure. Rather than resorting to the silly ad hoc measures to uplift rural people that we have seen in past budgets, we must empower farmers to export through imaginative schemes rather than provide more subsidies and higher purchase prices.
3. Fiscal deficit. Governments are impounding public sector bank funds (nearly 48%) to finance the budget deficit, thereby starving the public sector (especially manufacturing) of resources. Chidambaram has a propensity to play to the gallery of unions of organized labour by wrecking fiscal balances through the appointment of pay commissions (for example, in 1997 and 2006) and then creating a huge capital account budget surplus to finance the huge revenue account budget deficit. This is anti-development. No wonder inflation is rampant today, fuelled by rising money supply from revenue expenditure.
4. Debt trap. The debt accumulated by the Centre and states is so large (86% of GDP) that the annual servicing outlay now exceeds the fresh loans taken. This is unsustainable and can explode into a crisis. Moreover, if we correct Chidambaram’s budgets to date for the Enron-type classification of contingent liabilities, then, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently found, the fiscal deficit as a ratio of GDP has actually been rising, and not falling as the FM claims.
5. Budget allocations are straitjacketed. Due to the folly of all finance ministers since 1996, nearly 98% of the receipts in the revenue budget are committed to heads that cannot be politically pruned. That is, items such as defence, subsidies, interest payments, counter-guarantees, pensions, police and grants to states are those committed allocations that weak governments cannot reduce. These commitments leave only 2% of total revenue receipts for other sectors. Hence, the governments are dependent on loans for funding other heads of expenditure, which, however, due to the debt trap, is also an evaporating option for funds.
So, the question will be: How will the Budget address these five major ills without aggravating the economic situation? By 2101, India will at this rate face a major fiscal crisis of the kind we have not seen before.
First, the middle class has to be motivated to save more, go in for financial products such as insurance and equity, and buy consumer durables on credit. For this, we must abolish income tax, which is largely at the root of India’s black money. The resources lost for the government can be more than recouped through increased quantum of excise revenue due to higher growth rate arising from higher investment.
Second, Indian industry must be encouraged to out-compete Chinese labour-intensive manufacturing. For this, India must invite foreign direct investment and otherwise invest in food processing, textiles, retail trade, infrastructure and R&D. We need a nationally focused skill augmenting education system.
Third, treat agriculture as industry and extend all the fiscal concessions to industry to it. Land should be leased and consolidated where farmer cooperatives want to enter grain, vegetable, fruit, milk and flower exports. Local feeder airports should be constructed for speedy freight transport and e-commerce introduced.
Fourth, to discourage the government from poaching on bank finances for revenue expenditure, public sector banks must be privatized. The government can compete with others for these funds through the market, or by equity floating of public sector enterprises.
Subramanian Swamy is a former Union minister of commerce. Comments are welcome at theirview@livemint.com
Find More Articles On:
Union Budget 2008 Economy Finance Minister Income Tax
Find More Articles By:
Subramanian Swamy
READ Subramanian Swamy
Page 1 of 1
more
Subramanian Swamy
Congress party leaders have let the cat out of the bag and publicly deflated finance minister (FM) P. Chidambaram in a most embarrassing way. According to a well-placed media leak, a conclave of 38 party leaders told the FM that this year they would like to have a Budget “that caters to the aam aadmi”. Thus, they told him, inflation and farmers’ woes must be combated head-on and relief given concretely. No more esoteric dream budget rhetoric, they told him.
(Jayachandran/Mint)The implication of this directive is that the last four budgets Chidambaram presented did not cater to the aam aadmi, and that today inflation is rampant and farmers are in distress. Thus the globetrotting FM was rudely brought down on desi soil and given a reality check by the party itself.
Despite high GDP growth, the internal organs of the Indian economy are not healthy today. This is alarming. Any fast growing economy can collapse suddenly, as the 1997 experience of the East Asian economies showed.
These are the principal ills in the economy right now.
1. Jobless, low-productivity growth. High growth rates are not generating enough jobs, which have been growing at 2.25% a year since 1999-2000. However, to progressively reduce the unemployment backlog, absorb excess farm labour into industry and provide for the new entrants in the labour market, jobs must grow at about 3.5% a year. At the same time, the economy must raise productivity of labour and capital through induced innovations and new management practices, so that higher and higher investment rates would not be needed to sustain growth. Hence, in the Budget there must be adequate provision for encouragement of labour-using instead of labour-substituting technology. There should also be provisions to promote innovation through radical tax breaks. This means the education sector has to be nurtured in the Budget.
2. Lack of agricultural reforms. The growth rate in agriculture should be at least 4% annually to ensure that 8-10% GDP growth is sustainable. But since 1997, agriculture has shown a trend rate of 2.5%, with wide fluctuations year to year, due to lack of reforms, declining public investment, and poor, even pre-modern, infrastructure. Rather than resorting to the silly ad hoc measures to uplift rural people that we have seen in past budgets, we must empower farmers to export through imaginative schemes rather than provide more subsidies and higher purchase prices.
3. Fiscal deficit. Governments are impounding public sector bank funds (nearly 48%) to finance the budget deficit, thereby starving the public sector (especially manufacturing) of resources. Chidambaram has a propensity to play to the gallery of unions of organized labour by wrecking fiscal balances through the appointment of pay commissions (for example, in 1997 and 2006) and then creating a huge capital account budget surplus to finance the huge revenue account budget deficit. This is anti-development. No wonder inflation is rampant today, fuelled by rising money supply from revenue expenditure.
4. Debt trap. The debt accumulated by the Centre and states is so large (86% of GDP) that the annual servicing outlay now exceeds the fresh loans taken. This is unsustainable and can explode into a crisis. Moreover, if we correct Chidambaram’s budgets to date for the Enron-type classification of contingent liabilities, then, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently found, the fiscal deficit as a ratio of GDP has actually been rising, and not falling as the FM claims.
5. Budget allocations are straitjacketed. Due to the folly of all finance ministers since 1996, nearly 98% of the receipts in the revenue budget are committed to heads that cannot be politically pruned. That is, items such as defence, subsidies, interest payments, counter-guarantees, pensions, police and grants to states are those committed allocations that weak governments cannot reduce. These commitments leave only 2% of total revenue receipts for other sectors. Hence, the governments are dependent on loans for funding other heads of expenditure, which, however, due to the debt trap, is also an evaporating option for funds.
So, the question will be: How will the Budget address these five major ills without aggravating the economic situation? By 2101, India will at this rate face a major fiscal crisis of the kind we have not seen before.
First, the middle class has to be motivated to save more, go in for financial products such as insurance and equity, and buy consumer durables on credit. For this, we must abolish income tax, which is largely at the root of India’s black money. The resources lost for the government can be more than recouped through increased quantum of excise revenue due to higher growth rate arising from higher investment.
Second, Indian industry must be encouraged to out-compete Chinese labour-intensive manufacturing. For this, India must invite foreign direct investment and otherwise invest in food processing, textiles, retail trade, infrastructure and R&D. We need a nationally focused skill augmenting education system.
Third, treat agriculture as industry and extend all the fiscal concessions to industry to it. Land should be leased and consolidated where farmer cooperatives want to enter grain, vegetable, fruit, milk and flower exports. Local feeder airports should be constructed for speedy freight transport and e-commerce introduced.
Fourth, to discourage the government from poaching on bank finances for revenue expenditure, public sector banks must be privatized. The government can compete with others for these funds through the market, or by equity floating of public sector enterprises.
Subramanian Swamy is a former Union minister of commerce. Comments are welcome at theirview@livemint.com
Find More Articles On:
Union Budget 2008 Economy Finance Minister Income Tax
Find More Articles By:
Subramanian Swamy
READ Subramanian Swamy
Page 1 of 1
more
FAQs
Wall Street
Elaborate marble facade of NYSE as seen from the intersection of Broad and Wall Streets
Wall Street is a thoroughfare in lower Manhattan island, New York City, USA. It runs east from Broadway downhill to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District. Wall Street was the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange, and over time Wall Street became the name of the surrounding geographic neighborhood.[1] Wall Street is also shorthand (or a metonym) for "influential financial interests" in the U.S.[2] as well as for the financial industry in the New York City area.
Several major U.S. stock and other exchanges remain headquartered on Wall Street and in the Financial District, including the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, NYMEX, and NYBOT. Many New York-based financial firms are no longer headquartered on Wall Street, but are in midtown Manhattan, the outer boroughs of the city, Long Island, Westchester County, Fairfield County, Connecticut, or New Jersey.
Contents[hide]
1 History
1.1 Decline and revitalization
2 Wall Street today
3 Buildings
4 Personalities
5 Cultural influence
5.1 Wall Street vs. Main Street
5.2 Perceptions
5.3 In literature and popular culture
6 Transport
7 Similar institutions
8 See also
9 References
9.1 Cited references
9.2 Bibliography
10 External links
more
Elaborate marble facade of NYSE as seen from the intersection of Broad and Wall Streets
Wall Street is a thoroughfare in lower Manhattan island, New York City, USA. It runs east from Broadway downhill to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District. Wall Street was the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange, and over time Wall Street became the name of the surrounding geographic neighborhood.[1] Wall Street is also shorthand (or a metonym) for "influential financial interests" in the U.S.[2] as well as for the financial industry in the New York City area.
Several major U.S. stock and other exchanges remain headquartered on Wall Street and in the Financial District, including the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, NYMEX, and NYBOT. Many New York-based financial firms are no longer headquartered on Wall Street, but are in midtown Manhattan, the outer boroughs of the city, Long Island, Westchester County, Fairfield County, Connecticut, or New Jersey.
Contents[hide]
1 History
1.1 Decline and revitalization
2 Wall Street today
3 Buildings
4 Personalities
5 Cultural influence
5.1 Wall Street vs. Main Street
5.2 Perceptions
5.3 In literature and popular culture
6 Transport
7 Similar institutions
8 See also
9 References
9.1 Cited references
9.2 Bibliography
10 External links
more
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
