life in financial markets: global tremors, budget blues

The finance minister of India, P. Chidambaram, presented India's Budget 2007-08 before the Parliament today. It occurred on a day when the world markets had taken a beating too. Chinese stock market had registered a 7-8% fall yesterday, the highest in a decade. Even the US market fell yesterday and it was the higest fall since September 11 2001.

The budget is as usual obsessed with so-called 'growth' in services and manufacturing sectors and completely ignores the devastating effects of forced "development" on the ecology of the country and the tribals and villagers of India. Growth and development are welcome per se but we have hardly seen any growth in the happiness of majority of India's population nor have we seen any worthwhile development of democratic principles by the polity, judiciary, bureaucracy, police, corporates and society in general.