8230; And a View from the Outside

The book, published by Penguin Portfolio, is a collection of columns that assess the promises and performances of the NDA government from 2002 to 2004. The columns reflect the views of Chidambaram, who has served as finance minister between 1996 and 1998, and again from 2004 till present day, on a range of issues that remain important regardless of the government in power.

They cover subjects such as agriculture, foreign investment, monetary policy, budgets, taxation and international relations. 8220;Every column bears a date and that date also sets the context,8221; Chidambaram says in the book8217;s introduction.

The columns aren8217;t mere reactions of the Harvard graduate to the zeitgeist; they give readers an extraordinarily clear understanding of the problems underlying the country8217;s economy and its politics, and ways of solving them. Though Chidambaram admits he leaned towards topics that had some connection with the economy, he touched upon other subjects too.