governance, political economy, institutional development and economic regulation
What was Kejriwal thinking on his flight back from Varanasi yesterday? Did he reflect on how difficult it is in a competitive environment to get a second chance? Where would he have been, had he not frittered away his government in Delhi for a notional presence pan-India? Maybe he was caught up in the colorful, […]
Read More What now Mr. Kejriwal?Hate is a powerful emotion. A sense of rejection, powerlessness, consistent negative discrimination or perceived persecution; any of these can invoke it. In India it is a common, albeit not a publicly expressed sentiment. But it lurks very close to the surface. Who hates whom, is an easily answered question. But why the poor do […]
Read More Hate and its adherentsIt is never easy to choose. It becomes even more difficult if one is unsure how well your choice will work out. It becomes easier if the store you are buying from has a return’s policy. Even the Hindu Marriage Act permits divorce in case of irreconcilable differences or incompatibility. Why then should a voter […]
Read More Recall; a “second-chance” for votersCome May 16, Team Modi will be “riding” into Delhi in a triumphant explosion of fireworks, marigold and rose garlands and ladoos (sweets). After the celebrations are done; the flags and caps given away to raddi and the posters hang limp and ragged, Modi will get down to implementing his manifesto and try to outdo […]
Read More Team Modi; the first 100 daysThe Economist is an impeccably written newspaper with a distinct right of center slant and a preference for global solutions for reforming economic fundamentals in trade, climate change, democracy, private investment and markets. It advocates efficiency before equity. It believes correctly that in a resource constrained world, a concern for equity, as bleeding hearts socialists […]
Read More Why did the Economist bark?In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, only 60% of the 714 million voters bothered to vote. We don’t know how many, who did vote, were aware that the direct and indirect cost of each vote was at least around Rs 7500. Had voters been aware of the value of their vote, they might have given […]
Read More Make your vote countWhy has anarchism become a fashion statement? Is it an early warning sign of the fracturing of the edifice of liberal democracy, built up over the last century? Parliaments are held in contempt now with their membership dominated by lumpen elements that are there to expropriate public resources for private gain. Citizens trust nothing except […]
Read More The yin-yang of Indian democracyThe best thing about democracy is that it provides options to the zero-sum game where the winner takes all. Even the losers, in a democracy, retain their right to participate in decision making and benefit from state actions. We have seen too little democracy in India; the largest and the developing World’s best functioning democracy, and […]
Read More Avoid zero-sum political gamesIndians are born believing in God but get initiated into inclusion and growth. Conversely, Westerners are born believing in inclusion and growth but end up becoming devotees of God on reaching India. This illustrates how the two beliefs converge if citizens have the freedom to choose. Can the devotion that God inspires be evoked […]
Read More God and Inclusive GrowthModi is the face of efficient, impersonal, big government on the pattern of China. Infrastructure development, economic growth and jobs are what this State assures. In exchange, citizens are to accept greatly constrained rights with respect to personal freedom or the public voicing of alternative sentiments. Discipline and allegiance to the party line is the […]
Read More Modi and Kejriwal: A New Year’s tale of two faces