Costs of Democracy


Book Description

One of the most troubling critiques of contemporary democracy is the inability of representative governments to regulate the deluge of money in politics. If it is impossible to conceive of democracies without elections, it is equally impractical to imagine elections without money. Costs of Democracy is an exhaustive, ground-breaking study of money in Indian politics that opens readers’ eyes to the opaque and enigmatic ways in which money flows through the political veins of the world’s largest democracy. Through original, in-depth investigation—drawing from extensive fieldwork on political campaigns, pioneering surveys, and innovative data analysis—the contributors in this volume uncover the institutional and regulatory contexts governing the torrent of money in politics; the sources of political finance; the reasons for such large spending; and how money flows, influences, and interacts with different tiers of government. The book raises uncomfortable questions about whether the flood of money risks washing away electoral democracy itself.




Indian Finance


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The Problem of the Rupee


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India’s Approach to Open Banking: Some Implications for Financial Inclusion


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We examine how the development of the digital infrastructure known as the “India Stack”—including an interoperable payments system, a universal digital ID, and other features—is delivering on the government’s objective to expand the provision of financial services. While each individual component of the India Stack is important, we argue that its key overarching feature is a foundational approach of providing extensive public infrastructures and standards that generates important synergies across the layers of the Stack. Until recently, a large share of India’s population lacked access to formal banking services and was largely reliant on cash for financial transactions. The expansion of mobile-based financial services that enable simple and convenient ways to save and conduct financial transactions has provided a novel alternative for expanding the financial net. The Stack’s improved digital infrastructures have already allowed for a rapid increase in the use of digital payments and the entry of a range of competitors including fintech and bigtech firms.




India’s Finance Ministers


Book Description

India’s Finance Ministers: Stumbling into Reforms (From 1977 to 1998) is the second volume in the series of books on some of India’s unforgettable finance ministers. Analysing the role of India's finance ministers who managed India’s economy during one of its worst phases (post Emergency to the late 1990s), the book highlights the lasting impact they left on India's political economy. This volume also provides a fascinating account of India's economic history offering an incisive view of the key events in India's journey from an closed, agrarian economy to a liberal economy. Critically examining the decision making of the finance ministers , the book provides interesting insights into the relations between them and their prime ministers and to what extent these relations influenced their decisions. Full of exciting stories, this is the ultimate work on the critical role finance minister plays in the functioning of an economy.




Indias Relations With The International Monetary Fund (IMF)


Book Description

From one of India's senior Civil Servants, a brilliant analysis of the critical moments in India's economic history and the future of multilateralism in the International Monetary Fund that could decide the future of global crisis resolution. V. Srinivas – distinguished Additional Secretary to Government of India, former Advisor to the Executive Director International Monetary Fund and Private Secretary to Finance Minister of India, a widely acclaimed administrator and academician – provides a comprehensive analysis of several big events that stand out in India's relations with the International Monetary Fund based on 17 months of research and interviews. India's Relations with the International Monetary Fund 1991-2016 provides insights into India's role as a Founding Member of the IMF, India's IMF programs of 1966, 1981 and 1991, India's gold purchases from the IMF in 2010, the rise of G20 and India's emergence as the fastest growing major economy in the world. V. Srinivas highlights the role of the IMF as the lender of last resort, the IMF as an institution of asymmetric power in dealing with member countries, the enhanced role of the IMF post-2008 Global Financial Crisis and the Rise of China in the International Monetary System. “India's relations with International Monetary Fund 1991-2016: 25 years in perspective” is the first comprehensive study on the subject that offers deep insights into an Institution that has influenced the global economy in a significant way.




The Financial Foundations of the British Raj


Book Description

This revised edition of the book, first published in 1971, comprises an expanded introduction, that reviews recent research in this area, and a new imprint of the original text which has been edited afresh to slightly abbreviate some parts. The theme of this work may be summed up as the economic aspects of the theory and practice of the colonial state. The focus is upon the ideas and interests and contestations which went into the making of the policies of the Raj in the formative period following 1857, the years which saw the appointment of the first finance minister of India (then called the Finance Member), the introduction of the budget system and other innovations like the paper currency and income tax.




India and the Global Financial Crisis


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'India and the Global Financial Crisis' offers a collection of key speeches delivered by Reddy during his tenure as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and provides insights into the challenges facing the management of India's calibrated integration within the global economy.