Don't waste this crisis: There's no more room to ignore bad economics

A crisis is when a govt can expect people to make sacrifices for the larger good. The danger of doing nothing is that growth of 6% or less becomes the norm, not the unacceptable, writes T N Ninan

The gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers for the July-September quarter, the lowest in 26 quarters, are no surprise. Most analysts had — belatedly — forecast the bad news. It is now clear that if the government does not get its act together by Budget day, two months from now, a quick recovery from the current depths should not be expected. The economy is on a cusp from where it can swing either way. Nirmala Sitharaman is on test. 

If we get past the schadenfreude with which many analysts greet the Modi government’s mounting economic problems, for being self-inflicted, even