The Stages of Inflation

Inflation passes through three stages. In the first stage the rise in price is slow and gradual. In this stage it is easier to check the inflationary rise in the price of goods and services. But if inflation is not effectively checked in the first stage then it enters the second stage. In second stage inflation becomes a serious headache for the government. The prices of goods and services start rising much more rapidly then before. It not possible to eliminate inflation completely but if the government takes effective steps, it may be possible to prevent a further rise in price level. In the third stage, prices of goods and services now start rising almost every minute and it becomes impossible for the government to check them. These can be illustrated by an example , in first stage price rise in a proportion is less than the supply of money. Continue reading

India and Capital Account Convertibility: Some Facts

Whatever the apparent theoretical benefits of capital account convertibility, they have not yet been vindicated by the actual empirical evidence; rather, the experience of the countries in the developing world that have experimented with capital account convertibility has been that of increased market volatility and financial crises. Moreover, at least a part of the large inflows of capital into India are a consequence of the recessionary conditions elsewhere. The country’s macroeconomic fundamentals, though better than before, are not good enough to warrant long-lasting confidence from foreign investors. The reform process is not proceeding with adequate speed, banks are saddled with large volumes of non-performing assets, the financial system is not deep or liquid enough and the country ranks high in the list of corrupt nations. Once the conditions in the rest of the world improve, and the interest rate differentials between India and the rest of the world narrow further, Continue reading

Case Study- “Entry of LIC into Banking: Is it a Wise Decision?”

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is a long-term player with long-term resources garnered at a low cost. It has chosen Corporation Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, for investments in their equity shares. These two public sector banks have the distinction of turning out superlative performance. The business per employee and intermediation costs for these two banks are the lowest in the industry. So are there Non-Performing Assets. Corporation bank incidentally, is the only public sector bank, where the recent voluntary retirement schemes has not been implemented, as it does not have any excess staff to be sent out. In the Mangalore based Corporation bank are perhaps the biggest gambles over undertaken by the two giants. That, despite the state banks status as one of the best-managed bank in the country. Competition is intense in both domence at last count there were 19 public sectors, 34 private sectors, and Continue reading

Implementation of New Economic Policy to Indian economy in 1991

Several major economic and political changes occurred during the 1970s and 1980s, which affected the developing countries and paved the way for the implementation of IMF-sponsored Structural Adjustment Policies (New Economic Policy) in India in 1991. This was due to a combination of factors such as stagnant agriculture, low levels of industrial growth and diversification, inadequate capital formation, adverse terms of trade in international markets, limits to domestic resource mobilization due to a fairly narrow tax-base, loss making public sector enterprises, over regulated and controlled economy, poor industrial productivity, huge amount of fiscal deficit, huge amount of public debt, poor rating of Indian economy by international agencies, foreign exchange crisis etc. New Economic Policy of 1991 includes globalization, liberalization and privatization (Disinvestment) Globalization means flow capital (finance in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio investment (FPI), technology, human resource, goods and service among countries. FDI is Continue reading

What is National Income?

National income is the final outcome of total economic activities of a nation. Economic activities generate two kinds of flow in a modern economy namely, product-flow and money-flow. Product-flow refers to flow of goods and services from producers to final consumers. Money flow refers to flow of money in exchange of goods and services. In this exchange of goods and services, money income is generated in the form of wages, rent, interest and profits, which is known as factor earning. Based on these two kinds of flows, national income is defined in terms of: Product flow Money flow National Income in Terms of Product Flow National income is the sum of money value of goods and services generated from total economic activities of a nation. Economic activities result into production of goods and services and make net addition to the national stock of capital. These together constitute the national income Continue reading

Administered Price Mechanism

The concept of Administered Price was first introduced by famous British Economist, John Maynard  Keynes for the prices charged by a monopolist. A monopolist can be a price maker and he consciously administered the price of his product irrespective of the cost of production. Competitive prices are determined by the interplay of forces of demand and supply in the market whereas administered prices according to Keynes were associated with monopolists’ decision regarding price fixation irrespective of the market forces of demand and supply. However, in India the meaning of Administered Price has been quite different. In India, Administered Prices refer to prices which are fixed and enforced by the Government. They acquire a statutory nature. They are the outcome of the price policy of the Government. The Government interferes in the price mechanism and fixes minimum and maximum prices of various commodities in the agricultural and non- agricultural sectors. Following Continue reading