India’s e-waste regulations

India wants to tackle its mounting e-waste problem, but global electronics companies say the cost is too high. Daikin, Hitachi and Samsung are among manufacturers alarmed by new Indian government rules that require them to pay significantly more to recycle air conditioners, refrigerators, TVs and other appliances, court papers and lobbying letters show. The electronics giants are urging environment officials to abandon the approach, with four companies suing Prime Minister Modi’s administration over the measures they say will heighten compliance woes and unsettle businesses. India is the third-biggest e-waste generator behind China and the US. But government data shows only 43pc of the country’s e-waste last year was recycled and at least 80pc of the sector comprises informal scrap dealers, whose methods can pose environmental and health risks.

(Adapted from “From Daikin To Samsung, Companies Fight Modi Over E-Waste Policy,” by Aditya Kalra and Arpan Chaturvedi, published on April 11, 2025, by Reuters)

US’s bubble economy

A bubble economy is one in which the financial sector crowds out the real economy. Asset prices become severely inflated and detached from their underlying fundamentals. As asset prices rise, capital gains replace genuine savings. A bubble economy is sustained by continuously rising debt, which is mostly used for financial purposes rather than investment. Credit growth also boosts corporate profits. The United States meets that description. The contribution of its finance, insurance and real estate sector to GDP has doubled since 1945, while that of manufacturing has shrunk by more than half. Capital inflows into the United States have helped to sustain the bubble economy. Foreigners currently own $57tr of US financial assets, according to Federal Reserve data. However, America’s financial gains have been unequally distributed.

(Adapted from “There’s No Easy Escape From The US Bubble Economy,” by Edward Chancellor, published on April 11, 2025, by Reuters)

UK’s job market

Britain’s jobs market weakened again in March, with the number of people looking for work rising by the most in more than four years as companies laid off staff and were cautious about hiring, according to a survey. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said the pace of hiring slowed, extending a run of falls in permanent placements to two and a half years although the decline was less sharp than at the start of the year. The availability of staff grew at the fastest rate since December 2020 with redundancies and fewer job openings cited as factors behind the increase. A cyclical hiring upturn was always likely in 2025, but the near-term prospects for this have been made all the more uncertain by the actions of the US government in upending the global trade system, said the REC chief executive.

(Adapted from “UK Jobs Market Sees Biggest Jump In People Looking For Work Since 2020,” published on April 11, 2025, by Reuters)

Insulated from Trump’s tariffs?

Exports of goods, (and services that are not subject to tariffs), accounted for about a fifth of India’s economy in 2023, according to World Bank data. Meanwhile, exports were 65% and 87% of GDP for emerging market competitors like Thailand and Vietnam, respectively. Unlike other emerging Asian economies that are overtly reliant on exports, India’s consumer-led economy gives it a stronger hand in any trade talks with the US, experts say. So far, services have not been targeted. Some of India’s largest companies, such as TCS and Infosys, are unlikely to be directly impacted by the tariffs, and may only be exposed to the issue indirectly if a global economic slowdown were to occur given most of their clients are based overseas. India’s export destinations for merchandise are also significantly diversified, with the US accounting for only 18pc of shipments in 2023-2024.

(Adapted from “How Much Leverage Does India Have In Trade Talks With The US?” by Ganesh Rao, published on April 10, 2025, by CNBC)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, April 14th, 2025