One of the disastrous consequences of the current government rule is the stifling effect it has had on press freedom. There is no honest discussion of the issues. I have invested in the non-banking financial sector, as have many other Indians, directly, or indirectly through mutual funds.

There is no honest and frank financial reporting on the current imbroglio even in the financial press, aside from some vague reports on the fight between the government and the central bank, RBI.

What is the exposure due to ILFS default? What are the projections? What are the fallouts? How much recapitalisation is necessary? Is it only ILFS? No discussion.

What was the demonetisation for? No discussion.

The fin min has been trumpeting "consolidation" of public sector banks. Isn't this "too big to fail" coming up? Do we really need this? No discussion.

-- Another fact that I sometimes worry about: after demonetisation, real estate has stagnated, and mutual funds have seen a boom. Hence the exposure of the economy to bad loans made by the banks has increased in the last 2 years. So the catastrophe, when and if it happens, might be much more enormous than might otherwise have been.