The Stream

Is India’s boom about to go bust?

In this episode, we also look at Catalonia’s declaration of independence, Spain’s reaction, and ask where the country goes from here.

Is India’s boom about to go bust?

The economy of the world’s largest democracy is slowing down, but is it a blip on the path to boom, or is the start of a bust?

Prime Minister Modi and his right-wing Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014 and over the next few years the economy grew at close to eight percent. But demonetisation in 2016 and the recent implementation of a Goods and Services Tax (GST), have led to protests and criticism from both political opponents and allies. Demonitisation was introduced by the Modi government as a way to clean up corruption and “black money” from the market. GST is a plan to replace a multi-layered, complicated tax system, that has faced incredible teething troubles since it began in July.

Prime Minister Modi campaigned on a platform of “acche din” (good days) but is that being reflected in the state of the economy three years later? We’ll get into both sides of the debate.

Catalonia declares independence – what’s next?

Catalonia’s parliament declared independence from Spain on Friday in defiance of the central government in Madrid. The Spanish government responded by approving direct rule in the breakaway region and dissolving the Catalonian government, calling for fresh regional elections on December 21. In an unprecedented move, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy triggered Article 155 which allows to Madrid to rule Catalonia directly, escalating the constitutional crisis This is just the latest in the Catalonian story that has unfolded over the month of October.

We’ll take a look at what’s next in Catalonia’s fight for independence.

On this episode of The Stream, we’ll speak to:

Vivek Kaul @kaul_vivek

Economics commentator
teekhapan.wordpress.com

Karan Kashyap @Krn_Kashyap

Writer, Forbes Asia
forbes.com

Hoda Abdel-Hamid @HodaAH 

Al Jazeera English Correspondent

Jordi Vilanova @yuribcn
Pro-independence activist