• Research Summary

• Book Review

SPECIAL ISSUE

2009 : What's in Store?

-- GRK Murty

Markets may be rational. But its players need not necessarily be always rational. When irrationality rules the markets, its ill-effects will spread not only across the nation, but also across the shores. And that's what today the world is encountering. Obviously, such a giant-size crisis calls for unity of all rational beings in finding a way out.

SPECIAL ISSUE

IMF and World Bank : Do We Still Need Them?

-- Seo-Young Cho and Axel Dreher

The IMF and the World Bank remain important providers of public goods. However, they have to go for substantial reforms to stay relevant.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Global Financial Centers : Shifting Power Balance

-- Manuel B Aalbers

After decades of uneven globalization, the world is now witnessing the rise of many emerging economies and the shifting of global power balance as investments and returns are now moving in both directions.

SPECIAL ISSUE

India Inc.: Managing Slowdown

-- Kiran Nanda

A majority of Indian companies feel that the slowdown in Indian markets is a temporary phenomenon even in the face of severe liquidity crunch worldwide.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Banking and Financial Supervision : Towards a Better Framework

-- Alessandro Gambini and Marco Arnone

The recent crisis has shown that in addition to the application of prudential requisites, something more than a detailed MoU between monetary and supervisory authorities is necessary to provide a safe and transparent framework for efficient financial supervision.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Dollar vs. Euro : Advantage Dollar

-- Avi Messica

If there is no significant capital outflow from the US, then the dollar will keep regaining value, otherwise it will fall back again.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Bank Bailouts : Lessons to Learn

-- Puneet Prakash

While bailouts for banks have become commonplace during crises, they should be resorted to only if the fallout is systemic.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Rating Agencies : The Road Ahead

-- Nikunj Kapadia

The high ratings that the agencies gave to structured products contributed to the current crisis and tarnished their reputation. Hopefully, rating agencies will learn from this debacle and be more careful with the models and procedures used for providing ratings.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Emerging Markets - The Bear Hug : A Contrarian View

-- Edward Hugh

The year ahead promises to be a hard one. And if we are to see a new self-sustaining global expansion getting underway, then it is hard to see where the momentum for this will come from if it is not from the emerging economies.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Gulf Economies : Of Oil Prices and Funds

-- Gawdat Bahgat

In recent years, oil funds have injected billions of dollars into some of the world's biggest investment banks. However, the huge and growing size of oil funds, general lack of comprehensive investment strategies, and low levels of transparency and accountability have raised concerns.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Peak Oil : What It Means to Global Economy

-- Mamdouh G Salameh

Peak oil is not just a reality but is already impacting the global economy and the global energy security. While it is impossible to wean the world away from oil, it is important to think of alternative sources and technologies that can help in reducing the world's oil addiction.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Pharma Outsourcing in Asia : Changing Dynamics

-- Sujay Setty

The dynamics of pharma outsourcing and location decisions in Asia are changing. Companies need to set their strategic sights on a future world, where Asia is not just a market and manufacturing powerhouse for the pharma industry but also a key contributor to drug discoveries.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Indian Agriculture : Igniting Rural Prosperity

-- Suresh Chandra Babu and G Bhalachandran

Agriculture may not be terribly important for income growth, but is fundamental for translating the overall economic growth into rural prosperity.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Regulation of Financial Derivatives in India : Lessons and Challenges

-- Oskari Juurikkala

Recent events in financial markets call for a careful reexamination of the regulation of financial derivatives.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Bank of Japan : Repeating the Past?

-- Kumiharu Shigehara

The recent sharp yen appreciation against US dollar, euro and other currencies, including those of emerging Asian economies, has considerably weakened Japan's international price competitiveness.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Commodities : In Reverse Gear

-- Y Bala Bharathi and Sanjoy De

The unparalleled joy-ride of commodities has hit a road bump in recent months, thanks to the meteoric fall in commodity prices, inflicted by the global recessionary trend and the consequent decline in demand.

SPECIAL ISSUE

FIIs' Flight : India's Plight

-- T Jyotsna

Taking a cue from the global developments, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have dramatically retreated from the Indian capital markets, forcing the market regulator to come up with a slew of measures to contain this exodus as well as to ensure sustained FII inflows.

SPECIAL ISSUE

Investing in 2009 : Thinking Beyond Bricks and Walls

-- R Venkatesan Iyengar

"Don't panic, think long-term, pick up those cheap bargains, hold on to the large caps, and wait patiently for the markets to sort the mess out"-could be the perfect tip to investors for 2009.

ARTS & ARTISTS

Imagining India : Ideas for the New Century

-- Author: Nandan Nilekani Reviewed by M Hanumantha Rao

As the title of the book implies, the book is about self-belief and utter and total confidence about India's resources, strengths and talents.

APOLITICAL

Satyam Computer : More Questions than Answers

-- grk

As James Friedman of Susquehanna Financial Group aptly observed, it is the "reckless behavior with regard to corporate governance and cash balance usage for other considerations while its (Satyam's) peers instead are contemplating and/or pursuing share repurchases" that angered the shareholders of Satyam Computer so much that they simply dumped it.