It's a scary world out there

Ringed by Foes, Pakistanis Fear the U.S., Too by Jane Perlez, in New York Times pointed me to Blood borders: How a better Middle East would look by Ralph Peters in Armed Forces Journal.

A book, verily a book

India's Financial Markets: An Insider's Guide by Ajay Shah, Susan Thomas, Michael Gorham, Elsevier, 2008. I updated my `Indian economics/finance bookshelf' page. Also see:

• MTEF
• A book review, on CNBC Awaaz.
• There are a few reviews by readers on the Amazon page about the book.
• Gautam Chikermane: summary, and full review.
• Subhomoy Bhattacharjee in Financial Express
• Ashok Desai in Business World.
• A review by P. V. Vishwanath in Journal of Asian Economics.

Setting up a Debt Management Office

The Ministry of Finance has released the Report of the Internal Working Group on Debt Management [press release] [report]. Here are some responses to this report:

• Editorial in Financial Express, 25 November 2008.
• Editorial in Economic Times, 25 November 2008.
• Opinion piece by S. Narayan in Mint, 24 November 2008.
• Shruthi Jayaram in Financial Express, 26 November 2008.
• Ila Patnaik in Indian Express, 20 February 2009.

Belonging

Anand Giridharadas has written a poignant and beautiful piece: India's stepchildren, making their own way home.

Pension administration matters

Successful pension reforms requires a confluence of good policy thinking, good politics and good administration. The latter seems like housekeeping, but it makes all the difference between lofty ideas and actual execution. A key edge of the New Pension System (NPS) was that right from day one (i.e. circa 1999), there was a fully articulated plan for how every detail of administration would be done. The good folks working on NPS implementation at NSDL, PFRDA, the Department of Expenditure, various state governments, etc. should notice that mistakes in pension administration can be a matter of life and death.

Crisis watch, 21 November

TED spread	2.12
S&P 500 returns	-6.71%
VIX	80.86
Nikkei 225 (9:13 AM IST)	-2.22%
US Financials index	-9.7%
ICICI Bank ADR	-9.72%
Call rate on 20thth	6.2189%
Currency futures (9:32 AM IST)	50.51

• I have an article in Financial Express today on the possibilities of enhanced infrastructure spending as a counter-cyclical device. While on this subject, read Ashutosh Kumar in FE today.
• An editorial on the rupee in Financial Express.
• C. B. Bhave on banning short selling; SEBI's statement on ICICI Bank and an edit in Mint.
• The CMIE Monthly Review for November 2008 is at the right hand top here.

Crisis watch, 20 November

TED spread	2.11
S&P 500 returns	-6.12%
VIX	74.26
Nikkei 225 (11:53 AM IST)	-6.21%
US Financials index	-12.61%
ICICI Bank ADR	-13.63
Call rate on 20th
Currency futures (11:53 AM IST)	50.5825

• The ink hadn't dried on the G-20 declaration:

  ...

  Our work will be guided by a shared belief that market principles, open trade and investment regimes, and effectively regulated financial markets foster the dynamism, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are essential for economic growth, employment, and poverty reduction.

  ...

  13. We underscore the critical importance of rejecting protectionism and not turning inward in times of financial uncertainty. In this regard, within the next 12 months, we will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing World Trade Organization (WTO) inconsistent measures to stimulate exports. Further, we shall strive to reach agreement this year on modalities that leads to a successful conclusion to the WTO's Doha Development Agenda with an ambitious and balanced outcome. We instruct our Trade Ministers to achieve this objective and stand ready to assist directly, as necessary. We also agree that our countries have the largest stake in the global trading system and therefore each must make the positive contributions necessary to achieve such an outcome.

  ...

  and we got new protectionism from Russia, India and the EU. Read Martin Hutchinson from breakingviews.

• Mihir Sharma in Indian Express on the need for new HR policies in government.
• Economists think that price flexibility is a key to macroeconomic adjustment. Here's an example of the fine structure of price flexibility.