governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
(Photo credit: viewpatna.blogspot.com) We are, for the most part, what institutions make us. Some of us, who are exceptional, disrupt the status quo and change the universe. But generally, such special talents are best in small doses. India has too little of compliance with formal institutional norms and a little too much, of the libertine spirit. […]
Read More Budget to Build Institutions(www.thebetterindia.com) So what will the post-Plan India look like? Will we veer away from the soaring flyovers; highways straight as Arjun’s arrow; high rise apartments and carefully “zoned” areas, typical of planned development and turn instead towards the squiggly, irregular lines so dear to the foreign tourist, of “charming”, little, oriental streets; buildings leaning precariously […]
Read More Why Planning Died in India(photo credit: http://www.virtualtourist.com) First time visitors to India are usually taken aback by our degraded cities and the seeming public apathy to sewage and garbage competing for space with Bentleys and Porches-much like puberty when it is as important to hide the pimples as it is to dress smart. Ed Glasser of Harvard University, speaking […]
Read More India’s Urban Adolescence(photo credit: http://www.ndtv.com) The Republican sweep of the mid-term Senate elections in the US closely resembles the Modi wave in India. In both cases, electoral disgust with wooly idealism and unfulfilled promises fueled the wave. In the US, Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve caused a stir on October 17 by labelling as “stagnant” […]
Read More India-US in sync: wooly Liberals out, pragmatic Conservatives in
Opinion India 