governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
(photo credit: http://www.deeshaa.org) The thought of Modi, an original and innovative doer if ever there was one, copying anyone, is so implausible that the first instinct is to perish the thought at birth. But it is interesting to list how Modi could “do a Deng” for India. Deng Xiaoping inherited a China wracked by the […]
Read More Can Modi Copy Deng?(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(photo credit: wikipedia) Paul McCartney -he of the long, brown hair who hung out in the company of the Beatles in the 1960s-wrote this song when he was just 16. Clearly he was not an economist and didn’t need to be hesitant about asking his “love” to project forward by 48 years, her likely feelings […]
Read More When I’m 64(photo credit: http://www.thehindu.com) Liberals and human rights advocates are a queasy bunch with no stomach to face up to the honest truth that effective governance implies a better informed and more intrusive government. “Light handed regulation” is the mantra of neo-liberal economics. But such regulation fails unless the regulator can monitor compliance with the rule […]
Read More Liberals; smell the coffee please(photocredit: dnaindia.com) It is unlikely that the national coalition in Afghanistan, which the US has stitched together, will last. More likely, the Unity Government provides a convenient cover of artificially generated “peace” allowing the US to withdraw, with “honour”, from the “graveyard of invaders”. Once it leaves, the US shall make all efforts to secure […]
Read More Will Ashraf Ghani be Afghanistan’s Manmohan Singh?(photo credit: http://www.en.wikipdia.com) By polishing shoes at Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, in New Delhi, as “Kar Seva,” the refreshingly ordinary Lt. Governor, Najeeb Jung and his wife, have raised the bar for people in high public office. A “Kar Sevak” is one who volunteers to provide pro-bono service for a religious cause. That a deeply religious […]
Read More The glue of cross-religious Kar Seva(photo credit: article.wn.com) Charismatic leaders can mould crowds like putty. Bill Clinton’s March, 2000 “US and India are natural allies” address to the Indian Parliament; Barrack Obama’s University of Cairo “New Beginnings” address to the Muslim world, June, 2009 unleashed a Tsunami of optimism and “feel good”. In much the same way, PM Modi-the man […]
Read More “Tweak” the process transparently to deliver PM Modi’s “Big Things to Small People”
Opinion India 