Selected Tag: R. Gurumurthy
Selected Tag: R. Gurumurthy
R. Gurumurthy

R. Gurumurthy

Gurumurthy, ex-central banker and a Wharton alum, managed the rupee and forex reserves, government debt and played a key role in drafting India's Financial Stability Reports.

Not All Coins Are Equal: India’s Deliberate March Toward Digital Money

India cautiously explores stablecoins and CBDCs, balancing innovation, programmability, and systemic stability in a rapidly digitalising financial world.

R. Gurumurthy

October 10, 2025 at 3:21 AM IST

Article related image

RBI

Provisioning for Appearances: RBI’s Half-Hearted Tryst with ECL  

Has the RBI truly embraced global best practices, or just adopted them for appearances? India’s half-hearted ECL rollout exposes a deeper discomfort with accountability.

R. Gurumurthy

October 6, 2025 at 4:37 AM IST

Article related image

Tragicomix

Nobel Committee’s Trump Problem

From peace talks to bleach cures, Trump’s legacy baffles the Nobel Committee: too vast for one medal, inspiring a new prize for sheer unintended innovation.

R. Gurumurthy

October 4, 2025 at 7:13 AM IST

Article related image

Monetary Policy

RBI’s Baby Steps on Rupee Globalisation: Useful Nudges, But…

Recent announcements set the stage for rupee globalisation, but true scale awaits deeper trade and market adoption.

R. Gurumurthy

October 2, 2025 at 10:34 AM IST

Article related image

Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

Labubu Syndrome: Anatomy of a Plush Pandemic

A pointy-eared gremlin-rabbit now rules wallets and timelines. Labubu is today’s tulip, yesterday’s Beanie Baby, and last year’s NFT—cute, scarce, and overpriced.

R. Gurumurthy

September 27, 2025 at 5:11 AM IST

Article related image

Via WikiCommons

Briefing

Bitcoin Inside - Are We Smelling a Super-Prime Crisis?

Strive’s $1.3 billion deal shows how Bitcoin inside corporate wrappers creates systemic risk

R. Gurumurthy

September 24, 2025 at 9:13 AM IST

Article related image

Istock/BlackJack3D

Plaza Accord at 40: A Time Capsule of Macroeconomic Diplomacy

Forty years after the Plaza Accord tamed an overvalued dollar, can Washington still bend currencies to its will in a multipolar, fast-moving financial world?

R. Gurumurthy

September 22, 2025 at 1:44 PM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Trump, LTSE and the Fight to Slow Capitalism’s 90-Day Clock

From Trump’s six-month plan to LTSE’s bold rethink, the battle over quarterly earnings asks if markets can ever break free from short-termism.

R. Gurumurthy

September 16, 2025 at 9:01 AM IST

Article related image

istocks/krblokhin

India’s Bank Mergers: The Folly of Mistaking Size for Strength

Consolidation of India’s public banks offers scale without substance. Without governance reform and adjustments to their business models, they risk global irrelevance despite their domestic strength.

R. Gurumurthy

September 12, 2025 at 6:05 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com/lakshmiprasad S

RBI Must Not Outsource the Craft of Supervision

Outsourcing bank supervision to consultants risks turning judgment into checklists. RBI should modernise without losing its supervisory wisdom.

R. Gurumurthy

September 4, 2025 at 12:50 PM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

When Fox News Discovers India, Caste and Democracy Over Morning Coffee

Fox pundits criticise India’s ties with Putin and Xi while invoking caste clichés. But democracy, like diplomacy, is far more complex than cable soundbites.

R. Gurumurthy

September 1, 2025 at 2:15 PM IST

Article related image

PMO

Basis Life

Throne of Thrones — A Love Letter to Japanese Toilets

From heated seats to the Otohime sound princess, Japan’s toilets offer restraint, comfort and dignity — everything politics does not.

R. Gurumurthy

August 31, 2025 at 4:02 PM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Trump Tests the Guardrails of US Credibility

Trump’s firings of the BLS chief and a Fed governor mark more than theatrics. By purging referees, he risks the credibility of America’s economy.

R. Gurumurthy

August 26, 2025 at 10:08 AM IST

Article related image

Via WikiCommons

Powell’s Caution, CBO’s Fantasy and Illusions That Move Markets, Budgets

Powell’s cautious words and the CBO’s tariff arithmetic show how modern finance thrives on misreadings and manufactured optimism.

R. Gurumurthy

August 23, 2025 at 3:58 AM IST

Article related image

Screengrab

Central Banks Swipe Right on Gold, Left on the Dollar

India’s rising reserves mask a deeper truth, as the age of dollar monogamy gives way to messy multipolar dating games.

R. Gurumurthy

August 20, 2025 at 4:39 PM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Buy Now, Cry Forever as India Turns Housing Into a Rigged Board Game

In India’s real estate Monopoly, the landlords always win, buyers lose, and sachet homes may be the only square left to land on.

R. Gurumurthy

August 19, 2025 at 11:05 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

The RBI’s Curious Attachment to a Benchmark That Hardly Trades

The RBI’s liquidity panel sticks with WACR as its policy anchor, even though the market it reflects is shrinking fast. Reform? Or regulatory nostalgia? 

R. Gurumurthy

August 8, 2025 at 6:43 AM IST

Article related image

Monetary Policy Day and the Rent-a-View Economy

When the repo rate stays still, pundits pirouette. On Policy Day, the spectacle isn’t the decision, but the scramble to sound profound.

R. Gurumurthy

August 6, 2025 at 12:06 PM IST

Article related image

AI Generated

Trump, Tariffs and the Timeless Tango of Greed

Trump’s tariffs reprise a centuries-old American habit — protectionism dressed as patriotism, ego wrapped as policy, and greed passing for strategy.

R. Gurumurthy

July 31, 2025 at 4:04 AM IST

Article related image

White House

Basis Life

The New Evolution: Now with Spine, Small Talk, and Super Sight

Lab-grown backbones, monkey-inspired manners, and surveillance-grade contact lenses. Is evolution getting outsourced to technology? 

R. Gurumurthy

July 25, 2025 at 7:59 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Stablecoins and Sovereignty: Why India Must Watch, Not Rush

India must resist FOMO on stablecoins. The US is playing digital geopolitics—India should respond with timing, not haste, to protect sovereignty.

R. Gurumurthy

July 22, 2025 at 9:58 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Casino Capitalism Comes to Town: When Speculation Becomes Public Policy

India’s options market became a casino by design, not accident. Blaming Jane Street alone for playing the game it was invited to won’t do any good.

R. Gurumurthy

July 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Big Deficits, Bigger Delusions: Tax Cuts, Tanks, And The Vanishing Monetary Theory Mirage

As the West runs record deficits without a guiding theory, fiscal rules are becoming optional. Is this the era of spending without meaning? 

R. Gurumurthy

July 8, 2025 at 4:02 AM IST

Article related image

White House/Via WikiCommons

Zen to Zeal: Japan Deals With The World's Most Polite Fiscal Emergency

How the land of negative rates, disappearing buyers, and cheerful handouts is quietly rewriting the rules of fiscal and sovereign debt management.

R. Gurumurthy

June 25, 2025 at 8:38 AM IST

Article related image

iStocks/tawatchaiprakobkit

Saints With Swiss Accounts: What Happens When CSR Becomes Strategy

When CSR becomes more about image than impact, it risks losing its soul. A call to restore sincerity in the business of doing good.

R. Gurumurthy

June 21, 2025 at 6:59 AM IST

Article related image

AI Generated

Fed’s Dot Plot Traps Markets In False Precision

Fed watchers obsess over the dot plot’s shifting projections. But beneath the clean graph might lie a mess of guesswork, groupthink, and miscommunication.

R. Gurumurthy

June 20, 2025 at 6:59 AM IST

Article related image

AI Generated

Basis Life

Artificial Everything: When Childhood Gets A Software Update

When toddlers are taught coding before colouring, is childhood being optimised out of existence in the race to future-proof everything?

R. Gurumurthy

June 18, 2025 at 2:40 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

"Did He Just Say That?" — A Critical Look At Central Bank Communication

Communication is not PR, it is policy. When central banks speak credibly, they can move economies without moving interest rates.

R. Gurumurthy

June 12, 2025 at 6:20 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Surplus Transfer: Windfall For Government, Balancing Act For RBI

By transferring a record surplus to the central government and a larger chunk to the risk buffers, the RBI has balanced between supporting fiscal needs and preserving policy credibility.

R. Gurumurthy

June 9, 2025 at 11:19 AM IST

Article related image

Anurag Vijay/CC

LAF@25: Call Money Is A Dissonant Note In A Symphony 

The last part of our LAF@25 series explores the evolution of the call money market and how it reflects policy shifts from broader access to tighter regulation. 

R. Gurumurthy

May 21, 2025 at 4:07 AM IST

Article related image

LAF@25: SDF – From A Corridor To A Comfort Zone

Part 2 of our LAF@25 series explores how the Standing Deposit Facility may be steering India’s liquidity corridor towards a de facto floor regime.

R. Gurumurthy

May 20, 2025 at 3:37 AM IST

Article related image

LAF@25: The Shifting Core Of India’s Monetary Operations

As the RBI’s Liquidity Adjustment Facility turns 25, this three-part series traces its evolution, limitations, and future as a monetary policy mainstay.

R. Gurumurthy

May 19, 2025 at 5:11 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Basis Life

Fast, Fatal, and Forgettable: The Deadly Price Of McDonaldised Delivery

A young rider died delivering food fast. The real culprit? A system wired for speed, not safety. We’re trading lives for convenience.

R. Gurumurthy

May 11, 2025 at 9:13 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Cover Story: Judging A Book By Its Buyer

A ₹72.5 million pre-order turns a manuscript into a mystery—where public money meets private ambition, and the story sells before it’s told.

R. Gurumurthy

May 9, 2025 at 4:59 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com

Gold: Security Blanket Or Speculator’s Dream?

Gold’s rise is driven less by fundamentals and more by fear, with central banks and speculators shaping its identity as both safety net and bubble.

R. Gurumurthy

May 2, 2025 at 5:16 AM IST

Article related image

iStock.com/D. Talukdar

Chaos Theory, Entropy And The Financial System

While chaos theory explains the unpredictable behaviour of the markets, entropy suggests that the markets will ultimately reach a new equilibrium at a higher level of disorder.

R. Gurumurthy

April 30, 2025 at 6:16 AM IST

Article related image

Seoane Prado/Via WikiCommons

World Economic Forum’s Libor Moment Is A Crisis Of Credibility

A whistleblower’s claims against Klaus Schwab reignite scrutiny of the WEF’s influence, elitism, and performative globalism

R. Gurumurthy

April 26, 2025 at 6:08 AM IST

Article related image

IDFC First’s Capital Strategy Raises Some Uncomfortable Questions

The bank’s latest fundraise deepens concerns around asymmetric dilution, weak internal accruals, and a costly capital mix.

R. Gurumurthy

April 21, 2025 at 10:19 AM IST

Article related image

Regulatory Dialectics And The Purpose Of Financial Regulation

Bank regulations meant to prevent bank failures often risk becoming counterproductive. The Titanic analogy might be apt—but it's the Eastland syndrome we should be worried about.

R. Gurumurthy

April 9, 2025 at 4:17 AM IST

Article related image

A Weak Dollar...Ich bin oder nicht bin?

As Trump unveils his tariff policy, the burden may be shifting from the US dollar to manufacturing. What are the threats and opportunities for countries like India?

R. Gurumurthy

April 3, 2025 at 5:54 PM IST

Article related image

RBI’s KYC Penalties: A Sisyphean Grind?

Bank penalties for KYC violations have become a ritual. Without systemic fixes, regulators and banks are stuck in a costly cycle of compliance theatre.

R. Gurumurthy

March 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM IST

Article related image

bymuratdeniz/iStock.com

Monetary Policy

Fed Pause Gives RBI Breathing Room As Malhotra Weighs Next Move

With Powell unsure and Malhotra new at the helm, the Fed’s pause may buy RBI time to tread carefully amid global and domestic flux.

R. Gurumurthy

March 23, 2025 at 6:15 AM IST

Article related image

RBI Tweets

Climate Finance Impasse As Lions Asked to Turn Vegetarian

Conflicts, scepticism, and incipient stress tests impinge upon climate finance as banks hesitate and policy struggles to align with climate risk realities.

R. Gurumurthy

March 19, 2025 at 12:01 PM IST

Article related image

iStock.com/AscentXmedia

Financial Market Regulations Should Not Descend To Iatrogenesis

Regulatory tweaks in India's financial sector risk unintended harm—does over-caution cost more than its benefits?

R. Gurumurthy

March 10, 2025 at 11:52 AM IST

Article related image

Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash

The Bureau

Will India's Ban on Online Money Games Work? Or Will It Meet the Same Fate as Liquor Prohibition?
Jallikattu: Tamil Nadu’s Ancient Bull-Taming Tradition
Image