governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
Everyone loves a royal – especially a British royal, even cynics who claim to disdain them. And why not? There is something reassuringly middle class about being born to the good life and yet having to work hard – saying the right things, looking good, being on time, spending hours chatting with complete strangers and […]
Read More The new royalsWhich of us does not enjoy pulling down the high and mighty? And the thrill is even sharper if these are people who may have breached laws whilst rising to dizzy heights. And so it was with the recent Panama Papers leak which opens a window into the morbid financial gymnastics of the amoral, global […]
Read More Dirty money: Joining the dotsThe curious case of Uttarakhand (a small hill state in north India) shows that getting elected to political office confers powers but no responsibilities. The otherwise placid, hilly paradise was rocked by frenzied politicking in end March, as Congress dissidents lit a fire under their own government, even as forest fires lit to clear shed […]
Read More Politics sans servicePhoto credit: everettlaw.com Weird as it may sound, despite the rhetoric around innovation and private entrepreneurship being key for growth, this is not the consistent message emanating from government policy and regulations. Here are three examples. Ideological neutrality versus enlarging access to the internet First, consider that TRAI caved-in, in February 2016 to the “shrill […]
Read More Mixed signals stifle innovation
Opinion India 