Cash Transfers: A Good Idea?

by Shweta Chopra


Cash transfers are getting a lot of attention in India these days as a possible substitute to government subsidies provided to people under various welfare schemes (health, education, agriculture, food rations, etc.). Cash transfer policies mean that the government transfers cash, instead of commodities and services, to below-poverty-line (BPL) households. Their logic is that people are then free to ‘buy’ these services in the open market.

The success of cash transfer programs in some parts of the world has led many to think about cash transfers more seriously. Despite its success around the world, there is not much empirical evidence on the success of cash transfer programs in the context of the Indian economy.

Investing in Bonds

by Deepthi Sai

The term ‘bonds’ surfaces every now and then in discussions pertaining to the economy. You may have read about a company or the government ‘issuing bonds’ often. This article aims at elucidating the jargon associated with bond markets.

Understanding Credit Ratings

by Sreevidya Raman

And we’re back to the threats. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has recently released a statement warning India that it will downgrade its credit rating to ‘junk’ if it does not follow through with the popularized reforms (FDIs in the retail and aviation sectors) in the next 24 months. To show how serious it is about the threat, the rating agency has elaborated further to say that chances of downgrading India’s rating are one in three.

US Elections (Part 2): Obama vs. Romney

by Anisha Bhardwaj


From the previous article, we learned the basics needed to understand the upcoming elections. However, the amount of jargon prevalent in the pre-election debates requires specific attention. Some of the distress the US is facing today was inevitable. The credit crunch was always going to cause a lot of suffering in America regardless of who was in control. But politics, far from offering a remedy, is now adding to the national angst.