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Productivity Without Jobs: The Paradox of Advanced Manufacturing in Developed Economies
Manufacturing in advanced economies has undergone a profound transformation over the last four decades. Once the backbone of mass employment, it has evolved into a capital-, technology-, and knowledge-intensive sector where output growth is increasingly decoupled from job creation. The experience of developed countries demonstrates a critical paradox: manufacturing productivity…
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The Age of the Two-Speed Industrial Economy
Global industry is entering a structural phase shift rather than a cyclical slowdown. What we are witnessing today is not simply uneven recovery across sectors, but the emergence of a two-speed industrial economy. On one side sits legacy manufacturing—capital-intensive, energy-hungry, and optimized for scale in a world that no longer…
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India’s Microfinance Moment: From Financial Inclusion to Financial Fragility
Microfinance in India was born with moral ambition. It promised to democratise credit, liberate households from moneylenders, and convert the poor into micro-entrepreneurs. In its early decades, the narrative carried the glow of social transformation—small loans, collective responsibility, and women-centric empowerment were presented as antidotes to exclusionary banking. Yet, by…
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The Long Road to an India–US Trade Compact: Between Strategic Convergence and Structural Friction
A Relationship Shaped by History, Not Habit The idea of an India–US Free Trade Agreement has resurfaced many times over the past three decades, only to stall at the intersection of economics and politics. Unlike India’s trade engagements with the EU, ASEAN, or even the UK, a US trade deal…
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India–EU Free Trade Agreement: From Missed Opportunities to a Strategic Economic Reset
The India–European Union economic relationship has long been defined by potential rather than performance. Despite being natural partners—India as a fast-growing consumption and manufacturing base, and the EU as a technology, capital, and standards powerhouse—bilateral trade has remained modest relative to scale. The renewed push toward an India–EU Free Trade…