India as a monetary union…how does it work?

Well, this thought never really came to mind till the European crisis. There are many comparisons between how EU is not an optimal monetary union (as in lacks the main features of a mon union – labor mobility, fiscal union etc) and how US is closer to the optimal mon union. (see this and this for some recent discussion). Canadian Blog pointed to some comparisons between CMU and EMU as well

But what about India? How does India fare as a monetary union? Barring some posts by Gulzar there is hardly any mention of bringing this monetary union debate in India’s context.

Website on Mid-day meal scheme

Kapil Sibal launched a website y’day on mid-day meal scheme in schools.

The site provides detailed guidelines about the scheme; the Programme Approval Board approvals for various states/UTs as well as the physical and financial progress under the scheme. In addition,  a brochure and a booklet was being launched to bring out the key highlights about the scheme.  The site also brings out the innovative practices adopted by the various states.  It also provides details about the key officers responsible for the scheme and their contact details.   

The site has some interesting case studies.

Should be a useful source for students doing research on this evergreen topic..Please do share your findings..

Francis Fukuyama on the Financial Crisis – a waster opportunity to reform..

People need to keep following thebrowser.com for some superb interviews. It should be in the favorites list or just subscribe to their email list. The best part about these interviews is you get to know about new books (as each person is asked to pick up five books) and then the broad research/thought process of the specialist.

The latest in the interview list is Francis Fukuyama, leading scholar on international polity speaking on the financial crisis. His choice of five books are pretty well-known barring the FCIC report.

The main point by Fukuyama is the crisis was a great reason to fix many issues with the current state of affairs. However, it has been terribly wasted: