Sudip Bandyopadhyay’s Blog

Both too much and too little are expected of China’s response to the economic crisis: too much, because the Asian giant can play only a modest role in rescuing the world economy; too little, because few believe the economy will be radically changed. The stimulus programme is helpful, for China and the world. But the [...]

The recent debate about aid, sparked by Dambisa Moyo’s book Dead Aid, has polarised the development community.  However, effective aid has an important role to play in the quest for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.
In her book, Ms Moyo suggests that government bonds can take the place of development assistance. This is probably unrealistic. [...]

Oil at $68 per barrel has more than doubled in price since December. Gold is again touching $1,000 per ounce. The Cassandras of the economic gloom &  doom warn that the monster of high energy prices will munch green shoots in the bud, but worry is misplaced. The current price movements signal not a repeat [...]

During my travels to the Baltic republics-Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, I found that the aspirations, emotions and the attachment they have for the European Union is probably unmatched and definitely  stronger then the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, etc). Now the Baltic countries are going through their most severe economic crisis since the disintegration of [...]

Credit rating agencies have been among the whipping boys of the financial crisis.  They have been criticised for what they were responsible for – awarding triple A ratings to securitised debt products they did not understand.  They have been criticised for what they were not responsible for – investors’ overreliance on ratings to guide investments.  [...]