"India is entering a phase of decline. We are going to a regime of controls. There is no sanctity of contracts; permissions granted can be overturned later. There is a climate of excessive government control."
Economist Bibek Debroy on the dismal business environment (India Today, August 1)
"My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."
Billionnaire investor Warren Buffet on tax-benefits the rich enjoy in the US (The New York Times, August 14)
"One of the things making me happiest in America was the man coming up is celebrated. In India, I sense disgust, revulsion for that person, that he should suddenly have aspirations, riches, ambitions."
Celebrated author Aatish Taseer (Times of India, August 14)
"Why should we fight? The funds in government treasuries are ours. The treasuries are not threatened by thieves but by those who guard them. The country is not betrayed by enemies but by these traitors."
Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare speaking at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi on August 20
"They’ve shown a stunning lack of knowledge about basic US fiscal budget math."
Timothy Geithner, US Treasury secretary on Standard & Poor’s downgrading of US debt (Time, August 22)
"An effective Lokpal law is only one element in the legal framework to combat corruption. The Lokpal institution alone cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive anti-corruption code."
Congress secretary general Rahul Gandhi speaking in Parliament on August 27
"The anti-corruption movement proved that people are at the core of democratic institutions and processes. Petitioning is one process but mass action is also a part of the parliamentary process. The time has come for innovative processes of law-making which can be community based."
Social activist Medha Patkar on Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption crusade (The Times of India, August 31)