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Showing posts with the label revenue expenditure

Decision Making as Output and Bounded Rationality

  The classical economics theories proceed on the assumption of rational agents. Rationality implies the economic agents undertake actions or exercise choices based on the cost-benefit analysis they undertake. The assumption further posits that there exists no information asymmetry and thus the agent is aware of all the costs and benefits associated with the choice he or she has exercised. The behavioral school contested the decision stating the decisions in practice are often irrational. Implied there is a continuous departure from rationality. Rationality in the views of the behavioral school is more an exception to the norm rather a rule. The past posts have discussed the limitations of this view by the behavioral school. Economics has often posited rationality in the context in which the choices are exercised rather than theoretical abstract view of rational action. Rational action in theory seems to be grounded in zero restraint situation yet in practice, there are numerous restra

Reading the Union Budget: A Primer

  The Union Budget is without doubt, the most important document the government presents in the Parliament each year. The reasons are not too far to seek. It is the statement that expresses the government’s plan to spend on various activities as also the government’s measures to raise the revenues from the various sources to meet its expenditure. Therefore, an analysis of the budget is always going to be of critical import. The Finance Minister’s speech comprises two parts. The Part A of the speech focuses on expenditure as also on the policy intent of the government. It is in Part A that the government announces its economic policy for the year. The issues of privatization, nationalisation, expenditure on populist schemes, allocations for various social sector activities, industrial policy, disinvestment etc. all get highlighted in Part A. Part B is about the tax proposals. It has perhaps lost some attractiveness following the GST which meant that indirect taxes by and large come unde