With India hoping to meet most of its defense needs locally, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the US and its companies are ideally positioned to be the best partners and allies for India in that campaign. Over the past 15 years, ties between India and the United States (US) have scaled new heights in almost every imaginable area. The annual bilateral trade in goods and services today is in the region of $150 billion. The two countries are now … [Read more...]
Articles
Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
Frank’s most recent blogs are highlighted on this page. To read other blogs or articles by Frank, click on the categories or publications links on the left.
Promoting economic recovery in response to COVID-19
A recently published Congressional Research Service report on the ‘Global Economic Effects of Covid-19 states:”Estimatesso far indicate the virus could trim global economic growth by 3.0% to 6.0% in 2020, with a partial recovery in 2021, assuming there is not a second wave of infections,” The report warns ofheavy human costs in terms of ‘lives lost’, rising levels of poverty, derailed careers and increased social unrest. It projects that, global trade could drop by 13% to 32% and especially … [Read more...]
India should resist aligning with the US on China
Even though New Delhi and Washington have become closer strategic partners, especially in the past two decades, India has never openly aligned with the United States on China, despite US pressure to do so, writes Frank Islam for South Asia Monitor US President Donald Trump has issued two executive orders restricting Chinese social media networks TikTok and WeChat, on the grounds that they pose significant national security threats to the United States. These executive actions set a 45-day … [Read more...]
American Workers Need Employment Benefits
What is needed at this time is a massive and targeted jobs bill. The goal for that bill should be: To put American Workers back to meaningful work in full-time jobs in as short a time frame as possible. The jobs bill should be thought of as an employment benefits bill and an alternative to unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits are definitely necessary as transitional tools. They are not job creators, however, and do not restore the dignity that only a job can provide. … [Read more...]
Time to Assist Micro- and Nonemployer Businesses
[This blog is based upon findings from research into small business related COVID-19 assistance. For the full report presenting the findings based upon that research, visit this link.] The economic impact of Covid-19 has been devastating for most American businesses. It has been especially so for small businesses. This is an existential problem because small businesses are the heart and soul of the American economy. If many of them disappear due to the coronavirus, it will greatly … [Read more...]
Service to Country: The Enduring Call of John F. Kennedy
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Those words spoken by President John F. Kennedy nearly six decades ago at his inauguration on January 20, 1961 have inspired generations and millions of Americans to serve their country. I am among them. President Kennedy has inspired others through his deeds as well as his words. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal of Honor for his heroic actions after the sinking of his PT 109 boat during … [Read more...]
Trump administration hits foreign professionals and students
On June 22, President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the entry of a number of non-immigrant work visa holders into the US till the end of the year. The visa categories affected by the executive order include, most notably, H-1B, which has been used by more than a million Indian IT professionals and tens of thousands of Pakistan doctors since the 1990s and the L-1 visa used by US companies to bring in workers from their Indian offices. On July 6, the US Immigration … [Read more...]
Covid-19: From the US, Lessons on What Not to Do.
Driven by politics rather than science, Donald Trump took a set of reckless decisions. Here are 10 lessons The United States (US), which has the most expensive health care infrastructure in the world, remains, by far, the country most affected by the coronavirus pandemic with more than 3.5 million cases and around 140,000 fatalities as of July 15. Sadly, more than six months after the onset of the pandemic, the US appears to be far from flattening the infections curve. These … [Read more...]
Addressing America’s Statues of Limitations: A Monumental Undertaking
The killing of George Floyd has resulted in actions of various types against historical statues in the United States that may celebrate or demonstrate bigotry or racial bias. These actions have sparked a national conversation on what to do because of those statues. In our opinion, the statues under scrutiny are America’s statues of limitations. They are part of America’s history. They communicate messages intentionally and unintentionally regarding the historical limitations of this … [Read more...]
Sagging electoral prospects behind Trump”s H-1B action
On June 22, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order suspending the entry of a number of non-immigrant work visa holders into the US till the end of the year. The visa categories affected include, most notably, H-1B, which has been used by more than a million Indian information technology professionals since the 1990s and L1 visa used by US companies to bring in workers from their Indian offices. During his campaign for President four years ago, candidate Trump … [Read more...]