Best of BS Opinion: Economic slowdown, US-China trade war, and more

Here's a selection of Business Standard Opinion pieces for the day

India’s economic growth, or lack thereof, is attracting global attention with IMF’s new managing director Kristalina Georgieva singling out in her maiden speech on Wednesday India (and Brazil) as countries in which the effect of the global slowdown is more pronounced. On Thursday Moody’s forecast the economy to grow at 5.8 per cent this fiscal, suggesting the India’s government has scored several own goals. India, ever the high-potential low-performing economy, has seen its governments score own goals of various kinds, and these are the focus of the opinion writers today. Kanika Datta sums up the views

Several economists and commentators have argued for increasing public expenditure to address the current growth slowdown. Rathin Roy explains why the diagnosis of a cyclical downturn and the “obvious textbook prescription” of deficit financing are misplaced in the current circumstances. Read it here

The US-China trade war and China’s shrinking workforce points to some $350-500 billion of exports shifting out of China in five years. The opportunity embedded in this tectonic change is for India’s to lose, writes Neelkanth Mishra here

India has slipped 10 notches in the global competitiveness index for 2019, suggesting the urgent need for deeper policy intervention and reform, says the lead edit. Read it here

The growing incidence of counterfeit or underperforming drugs is creating a public health crisis that India can ill afford. The government needs to invest in expanding and strengthening regulatory capacity to bring the pharma industry under more stringent scrutiny, says the second edit. Read it here 

Quote of the day

‘The drivers of the deceleration are multiple, mainly domestic and in part long-lasting’

 

Moody’s Investor Services report, forecasting India will grow at 5.8% in fiscal 2020