All Stories
Capital Without Borders, Workers Without Power: The Mechanics of Modern Crisis
In Short: Noted economist Prabhat Patnaik argues global capitalism faces a structural crisis of stagnation and overproduction. While capital is globalized, labor and nation-states remain localized, suppressing real wages and aggregate demand worldwide. Because mobile capital blocks traditional tax or deficit interventions, governments resort to protectionism and political distraction rather than systemic reform.
Trump's $5,000 Dividend exposes the desperation of midterm politics
In Short:Facing low approval ratings and inflation ahead of midterms, Donald Trump proposed a $5,000 "dividend" for American adults, contingent on domestic spending. Costing over $1 trillion, this unfunded proposal risks worsening $40 trillion in national debt, heightening bond market instability, and signaling political desperation over sound fiscal policy.
Twenty-Five Years After 9/11: America’s Eight-Trillion-Dollar Foreign Policy Bankruptcy
In Short: Twenty-five years after 9/11, America’s $8 trillion "War on Terror" has yielded strategic failure rather than security. Military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya squandered global goodwill, replaced hostile regimes with worse instability, and added 20% to U.S. national debt—eroding global trust in American leadership and financial stability.
Cracks in the Greenback: How Beijing Is Silently Building an Alternative Financial System
In Short: Driven by Western sanctions and dollar weaponisation, China is quietly constructing a parallel financial architecture. Through its CIPS payment rail, renminbi-denominated state lending, and Shanghai gold-settlement mechanisms, Beijing offers developing nations an alternative to greenback reliance, accelerating the shift toward a fragmented global financial system.
The Petrodollar’s Long Twilight: How Energy Geopolitics and the Petro-Yuan Are Testing Washington’s Financial Dominance
In Short:The petrodollar system, established in 1974 to anchor global dollar dominance through energy trade, faces growing fragmentation. As sanctions drive nations like China and Iran toward non-dollar clearing networks like CIPS, alternative currencies like the petro-yuan threaten Washington’s long-standing financial leverage and its reliance on foreign Treasury purchases.
Custodians of the Creed: Who Controls Hindutva?
In Short: As electoral strategies evolve across India, the growing tension between partisan interest and the broader ethos of Hinduism highlights the risks of political monopoly over spiritual traditions.
A Tale of Three Indias: What Apple’s Boom Reveals About Structural Inequality and Credit-Fuelled Aspiration
In Short: Apple’s rapid growth in India highlights a deeply split economy. With the top 10% holding 58% of national income, luxury brands target affluent consumers alongside an ambitious middle class. Supported by widespread installment financing (EMIs), middle-class buyers increasingly leverage future earnings to fund high-status devices despite stagnant average incomes.
The Silicon Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Why fears of autonomous artificial intelligence
In Short: Apocalyptic warnings about autonomous artificial intelligence often mask economic motives. While existential risks and lost control warrant genuine concern, high regulatory hurdles created in response to public panic risk burdening small startups while protecting Big Tech incumbents from competition, framing safety debates as tools for market dominance.
The De-Risking Revolution: BRICS Summit Tackles Greenback Weaponisation
In Short: Rather than seeking to destroy the US dollar, BRICS nations are pragmatically building parallel financial structures. By interconnecting domestic payment systems, trading in local currencies, and establishing workaround banking channels, the bloc aims to hedge against Western sanction risks while preserving national sovereignty in an increasingly fragmented global economy.
The Self-Harm of America First: How Sanctions and Tariffs Are Accelerating Global Fragmentation
In Short:Aggressive US tariff and sanction threats are backfiring, driving global powers to build parallel financial architectures. By accelerating local-currency trade, central bank gold repatriation, and non-Western security blocs like BRICS, Washington’s economic coercion is inadvertently eroding dollar dominance and isolating America from the global economy it once led.
Europe Pulls Its Bullion Home as the Transatlantic Anchor Fails
in Short: European central banks are accelerating the repatriation of their gold reserves from American vaults as transatlantic trust erodes. Driven by rising geopolitical instability, US economic pressures, and fear of asset freezes following sanctions on Russia, nations prioritize physical possession over foreign convenience, signaling a historic shift away from US-led monetary custodianship.
The Weaponised Dollar and the Mirage of a Alternative Global Reserve Currency
In Short: While geopolitical tensions drive nations toward de-dollarisation to avoid American economic sanctions, the dollar remains irreplaceable. Alternatives like the euro, renminbi, or a BRICS currency face capital controls and institutional fragmentation. A fragmented financial landscape may emerge, but the greenback’s deep liquidity and economic dominance ensure its core primacy.
The Anatomy of a Cabinet Clean-up
In Short: Speculation surrounds an impending overhaul of Narendra Modi's cabinet. Backed by central party authority and strict cadre discipline, the prime minister faces minimal risk of internal dissent. The planned reorganization aims to target upcoming state elections, accommodate potential new NDA coalition allies, and strategically rebrand the administration following recent political and economic pressures.
A BrahMos Belt Encircles China
In Short: India is subtly countering China’s regional influence by exporting BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to Southeast Asian nations with South China Sea maritime disputes, including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Following proven battlefield effectiveness against Chinese-made air defenses, this growing defense network creates an informal security belt along Beijing’s vital trade routes.
Who Will Fix the Roof? India Fragmented Climate Governance
In Short: India’s ambitious climate goals are hindered by fragmented governance across ministries and federal levels, leading to poor implementation. Unlike the UK or Germany, India lacks an enforcing statutory body. To bridge policy and execution, India must establish an independent climate authority, district-level assemblies, and dedicated departmental climate cells.
The Mechanics of Avoidance: How India and Russia Built a Parallel Settlement System
In Shots:India and Russia restructured bilateral trade to bypass the US dollar following Western sanctions, relying on local-currency Vostro accounts. Addressing severe trade imbalances, the system now uses sovereign bonds, third-party clearing, and direct messaging networks. Consequently, 96% of their $70 billion trade settles without greenbacks.
The Friction in the Machine:How BRICS expands into a sprawling bloc of rivals and regional heavyweights
In Short:BRICS survives despite deep internal rivalries—including Sino-Indian border feuds, Gulf economic competition, and African water disputes—because member states strictly insulate bilateral conflicts from their shared agenda. By prioritizing pragmatic economic goals like de-dollarization and local currency trade over political alignment, the bloc maintains its global influence without fracturing.
The Cost of Ambition: How Delhi’s severe student housing deficit turns urban migration into a deadly game of chance.
In Short: A fatal Delhi hostel collapse exposes the stark deficit in India’s public student infrastructure. Chronic Hostel shortages force hundreds of thousands into an unregulated, lucrative private rental market. While the state invests heavily in grand civic monuments, lax oversight and structural neglect leave ambitious students paying the price.
Strategic Counterweight: A Eurasian Wedge In Washington’s Calculus
In Short: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s twenty-sixth summit highlighted growing Eurasian alignment against American hegemony. Driven by Western tariffs and sanctions, historic rivals like India and China are pursuing pragmatic economic cooperation. By promoting de-dollarization and alternative financial institutions, the bloc poses a rising challenge to Western global dominance.
Privatising Gains, Socialising Loss: Inside India’s Great Corporate Debt Disappearing Act
In Short: Over a decade, Indian banks wrote off ₹18.77 trillion in bad loans, while insolvency resolutions forced creditors into ₹10.4 trillion in haircuts. Combined with ₹8.22 trillion in corporate tax concessions, these massive relief measures failed to spur growth, as manufacturing’s GDP share fell from 17% to 13%.