Many in the west believe that spending will save the economy in the wake of Covid-19. Arvind Panagariya argues debt must be kept under control if economies are to survive the crisis, and that India is showing early signs of getting it right. 

A strict lockdown, beginning on March 24, initially kept Covid-19 cases in India at low levels.  But amid a phased lifting of lockdown measures, the cases have surged.  As of July 11, 2020, the total number of cases at 850,000 is the third largest in the world, behind only Brazil (1.8 million cases) and the United States (3.2 million cases).  Taking recovery and deaths into account, the number of active cases is far smaller at 292,000.