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India seems to be shifting its position at WTO, aligning with multinationals

On November 21, the price of crude crashed. It recovered slightly, but there was considerable ferment in markets. Energy and finance experts don’t like to be told that energy price rises give a pass for most corporates, but a number of studies have shown that a fall in crude prices is generally not passed on to the consumer. Economists call this the ratchet effect in the sense that there is asymmetry in the impact of falling, as compared to rising prices of something as important as fuel. But while prices may be sticky on this count, India is a crude short economy and these events do reflect on the bottom line.