Best of BS Opinion: When the earth shakes beneath power, policy, and trade

Business Standard

3 days ago

You don't feel the earthquake at first. It starts deep below, invisible. A low grumble, a slight creak in the furniture, the ceiling fan swinging oddly, a dog barking at nothing. You brush it off. But then the cupboard groans, your feet slide slightly, and the mug on the table does a tiny shake. That's when you realise something deeper is shifting. That's how the world feels like currently — not like a storm crashing through the door, but like everything is shifting slowly, deeply, leaving cracks in what we thought was solid. Let's dive in.
One tremor came from the RBI, which stood unnervingly still. As our first editorial notes, despite lower inflation projections and expectations of a rate cut, the central bank kept repo rates unchanged at 5.5 per cent. Why? Because the next jolt may be inbound. Food price volatility, global oil games, and geopolitical tensions all hint at aftershocks. The RBI, aware that too much easing could trigger instability, chose to grip the table and steady the china. Liquidity was eased, but policy intent stayed tight. The real message being: brace for long-term tectonics.
Meanwhile, the ground is cracking next door. Our second editorial highlights how post-Hasina Bangladesh has gone from a beacon of growth to a cauldron of Islamist volatility. The power vacuum is being filled by Islamist forces backed by Pakistan and China. The ready-made garments sector, once the backbone of the economy, is collapsing — factories shut, women pushed into unemployment, growth halved. For India, this isn't just a neighbour's quake, it's a regional fault line demanding careful navigation and patient diplomacy.
From afar, Donald Trump's tariff shock felt like a seismic wave sent across the Pacific. Ajay Chhibber explains how India now faces a 50 per cent tariff wall from its biggest export partner. For 'Mission 500' and India's $2 trillion export ambition, this could be a wrecking ball. But instead of panic, India must do a structural scan and reform internally, engage externally, and resist caving into American fault lines.
And then there's the carbon quake looming from Europe. Rajeev Kher and Anshuman Gupta unpack the EU's CBAM, which threatens Indian iron, steel, and aluminium exports with carbon tolls. Big firms may stay standing, but small businesses with little capital to retrofit or report emissions could be crushed. Without swift support and smart diplomacy, this environmental shift might shake up entire export corridors.
Amid the instability, a quieter kind of leadership shines through. Neha Bhatt reviews Jacinda Ardern's memoir, A Different Kind of Power, where personal and political tremors are met with calm, empathy, and grace. Her resilience through tragedy offers a blueprint not of shock absorption, but of human-centred navigation.
Stay tuned!