In this issue

Modern monetary theory: Keynesianism in another name

In a public lecture, W.D Lakshman, the then governor of the central bank appointed to the role in November 2019, said he doesn't see any relationship between money and inflation. Facing a large budget deficit due to a sweeping tax cut in early 2020 followed by a slowing economy due to Covid, Sri Lanka resorted to printing money. Since the then governor of the central bank no longer believed printing money would lead to inflation, the printing presses worked over time.

Its proponents, including governor Lakshman, suggested that modern monetary theory (MMT) was the magic bullet to fund infrastructure, provide social safety nets and usher in a new era of prosperity. MMT is another way to describe printing money, eschewed by classical economists due to its inflationary impact. MMT was Keynesianism in different drab.

Sri Lanka’s inflation has now spiralled out of control. After the departure of governor Lakshman, the central bank increased interest rates to record levels. Economists who were part of Echelon’s Reboot Everything Festival suggest that taming inflation and navigating the economy to growth won’t be as straightforward as raising interest rates.

Echelon Magazine Description:

Intelligent Storytelling

The one thing that will define the Echelon magazine will be the quality of the storytelling. Echelon,published monthly, will cover in depth Sri Lanka’s most successful businesses, examine their winning strategiesand profile their leaders in immersive stories. Great stories are also never limited to words, and our approach includes rich photography, bold graphics and leading edge design which together will make for a compelling read.

But business doesn’t start and end in a boardroom;it extends to the golf club greens, to international travel and to pursuits that blurthe lines between commercial venture and sheer passion. The Echelon team will present the best in business and lifestyle coverage that will appeal to an exclusive and affluent readership: an otherwise hard to reach demographic.

Content will be developed by one of the most experienced and proven teams of editors, financial journalists, photographers and designers in the country.This team has already raised the bar for powerful and expertly crafted business news. Shamindra Kulamannage, will lead the editorial team.

The reputation of Echelon is being built on the separation between editorial and advertising. However we are also looking for the most creative and impactful new formats that can be applied in our magazines, iPad app as well as website to help our clients reach our audience. We are flexible and creative and we will have a solution for every single advertiser who wants to reach our audience.

We are passionate about creative results and about working with our advertisers to help them create bespoke multi platform creative solutions with our in house creative team and of course our sales team.

Echelon will be a great place to show off the products and capabilities of our clients because they will be surrounded by an editorial product that is expertly crafted, full of integrity and intelligence.