How bad is the Global Crisis? Will the Indian economy be hit hard? What can we do to protect ourselves from global turmoil? Is a growth recession inevitable? How well did we cope with the massive foreign capital inflows in the last five years? Did we follow a good exchange rate policy? What explains the surge in national savings and investment? Can we revive the economic boom of 2003-08? Do we have good roadmaps for reform of banking and finance? Do oil bonds make sense? How long can we sustain massive subsidies? Are economic disparities in India rising? Where are the new jobs? How good (or bad) is the UPA Government’s economic legacy?

In these short essays Shankar Acharya provides crisp answers to these and many other questions about India’s economic policies and performance.

Shankar Acharya’s columns are compelling reading at any time. This collection is especially valuable because it documents his perceptions of 2008 as the year unfolded to reveal the worst global crisis since the Great Depression. Acharya’s analysis of the implications of the crisis for India is insightful and authoritative...

Montek S. Ahluwalia 
Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission, Govt. of India.

Shankar Acharya's columns provide both foreigners and Indians with a calm, reliable guide to the critical issues facing the Indian economy, and with sharp analytic insights into what should be done. Particularly in the context of the ongoing global crisis, the consistency and acuity of his views help all of us think our way through some of the most difficult issues that the Indian and other economies face now, and in the years ahead. This is an excellent book to read and reflect on…
Stanley Fischer, 
Governor of the Bank of Israel and 
former Killian Professor of Economics, MIT.

Shankar Acharya is one of our gifted public intellectuals. These splendid essays reflect deep understanding of the global economy and its implications for India's macro-economic challenges… In these days of profound global uncertainties, our policy makers are well advised to carefully listen to the sagacious counsel that these essays offer.
Vijay Kelkar,
Chairman, 13th Finance Commission, Government of India.

India's rapid rise as a major emerging market has been of intense interest. Shankar Acharya's experience as the top government economist and his keen analytical mind have made him one of the outstanding analysts of the Indian economy, its successes and its problems. In this timely and well written volume, he addresses the Indian economy's response to the global financial crisis, and the many policy issues affecting India's growth prospects, including fiscal, financial, exchange rate, trade, labor market, and other economic policies
Anne Krueger.
Professor of International Economics, John Hopkins University.

This book gives a great insight into the various issues and challenges that face India at this critical juncture. In the midst of premature triumphalism, Shankar has been a voice of sanity pleading for the fundamental reforms that we need to fully empower our people so that we can truly realize our 'demographic dividend'. It is now quite widely apparent that the halcyon years of growth were made possible only by a global liquidity bubble. As we go back to basics in terms of a reform agenda, this book is required reading for everyone concerned with India's future and its fleeting opportunity.
Nandan Nilekani
Co-Chairman, Infosys Technologies Ltd.

Shankar Acharya is one of India's leading policy economists. As Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (1993-2000) he was deeply involved in the economic reforms of the 1990s.

He also served on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and, more recently, as Member, Twelfth Finance Commission (2004).

He has authored six books and numerous scholarly articles.

Currently he is Honorary Professor and Board Member of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi.

He also serves on the governing boards of other national research organisations and various advisory bodies of Government, the Reserve Bank and some corporates.

He writes regularly in the Business Standard, and is a consultant to international organisations.

Dr. Acharya has a Ph.D. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Oxford.