The Sri Lanka crisis
It is apt to see the ongoing upheaval in Sri Lanka as an out-of-an-unprecedented economic disruption that has been caused by factors that are internal, external and global. The island-nation has gone through situations, may be not as severe, in earlier times as well. But then for a while, it had outsourced policy to the Chinese and blinkered its institutions.
Robustness of systems and institutions and the acumen in policy formulations, must rank high for foundational stability. In China, both were uni-linear. While it helped push economic prowess, its policy rigidity stymied the nation to leave it nonplussed in a pandemic. The United States has been prone to frequent policy miscalculations but its institutions are bestowed with an ability to recoup. Back home, even acceptable policies lack transmission as institutions are short on onus. It is the strength of institutions that we install that sustains nations in adversity and must take precedence, without which leaders and policies trail the curve.
