Woah.
I just noticed the bizarre cover image used for the Harvard Magazine article.
It shows a sad homeschool child imprisoned in a house while the other kids are outside playing.
Notice the house is made of books, one of them being the Bible 😱👻
Dear American Media, I understand that poverty porn and pandemic porn are very exciting and good for ratings. But there are a lot of issues to cover in re the horror in India, especially topics that can save lives. 1/n
I am clearly no fan of Modi but the foreign press always adds "Hindu nationalist PM" to Modi. While that's an annoying way to report on India it's particularly ridiculous when the same piece simply says PM Imran Khan. Why not Sunni nationalist Imran Khan?
All eyes are on Delhi. But the the worst numbers will come from rural UP. You don’t see people scrambling because there are no hospitals to scramble to. And rural UP and Bihar have the lowest healthcare capacity per capita and some of the highest rural population densities.
The government gave 1.3 billion people only 53 days to deposit/exchange their old currency notes at banks including SBI. Supreme Court didn't intervene for five years.
But when SBI needs 136 days to release information they have already collected and digitized.....
SBI moves SC seeking extension of time to submit details of electoral bonds to ECI till June 30.
Earlier SC ordered SBI to submit the details by March 6.
This is really confusing. Leave aside the authoritarian quelling of protests - these farmers are anti everything
@GretaThunberg
wants. They are depleting the groundwater table, causing massive air pollution by burning crops, overusing free electricity & subsidized diesels pumps.
My grandfather V Santhanam is 101 and voted today. He voted for the first time in 1946 in the Provincial Elections in Bombay for Minoo Masani. He has voted in every single general election since the birth of the republic.
#Indianelections2019
#IndiaVotes
#900millionvotes
Just watched Oppenheimer. With zero sense of irony, in a movie about the making of the atomic bomb, there is a “smoking kills” disclaimer on screen for most of the running time (thanks to Indian government regulation of film screening).
I only wrote my PhD dissertation on amendments to the Indian constitution. But, please please tell me more. Haven’t been mansplained to in a while with all the ongoing wokeness. I miss it.
Much of the chemical free/organic farming movement comes from a small minority in developed countries that haven’t faced food insecurity for generations.
Banning chemical fertilizers/ adopting organic farming in Sri Lanka has reversed decades of progress and caused food riots.
Scenes from today make Modi look like a king performing the mahayagnyas we read about in mythological stories. Not the head of government of a constitutional republic. India has drifted very very far.
Given the trend of COVID19 cases in India is the same as other countries like Italy and S Korea from a few weeks ago. Some thoughts on what the union and state govts in India should do immediately. 1/n
Yes, I was also radicalized by Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman into getting a Ph.D in economics, and becoming a professor, just to radicalize the next generation. May we all become radical price theorists.
Didn’t realize that exposure to ideas of Nobel Laureate economist Milton Friedman put one in danger of alt-right brainwashing. But there he is, on the front page of the
@nytimes
, in a collage for a story titled The Making of a YouTube Radical. []
Most urgent: (1) Biden administration's DPA embargo on vaccine ingredients. (2) Or sending 20 million AZ and couple of million J&J vaccine stockpile to India. (3) Or helping supply ventilators to India, which is facing an acute shortage. 2/n
Very sad to learn that Prof. Padma Desai passed away. An incredible economist, Soviet scholar, critic of Indian planning and controls. And a trailblazer who paved the path for female scholars in India. My condolences to Prof. Bhagwati and the whole family.
Caste discrimination by
@iitmadras
professors has led one of its finest young minds, Dr. Vipin Veetil, to resign. Those familiar with his work and teaching know that he is such a passionate scholar/teacher. Big loss for the students. And shame on
@iitmadras
.
Or understanding how limiting the outbreak in India and vaccinating Indians reduces variants and protects Americans. Or how to look beyond India and increase funding support for COVAX. 3/n
Seen: It looks like the victory of oppressed farmers against an authoritarian government.
Unseen: it is really a victory of some well-organized farmers against millions of unorganized farmers and unorganized consumers.
Just because the Modi government was the villain in the farm laws story does not automatically make the Punjab/Haryana farmers the heroes. India urgently needs agricultural sector reforms.
My latest column for
@livemint
@Mint_Opinion
on how SC justices give great lectures but bad judgements & orders. Six months later the judiciary has still not heard Habeas Corpus cases of those detained in Kashmir.
#habeascorpus
#producethebody
The collective trauma of losing to Australia in a World Cup final is strong enough to end the generation wars and unite Indian Boomers, Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha.
Since the suggestion box to improve twitter is wide open: my two cents for
@elonmusk
.
In addition to the number of followers,
@Twitter
should also list how many people have blocked, and/or muted, and/or reported a particular account.
Try to mimic real world reputation costs.
If you are interested in talking about these important issues, you are in luck. There is an very large pool of India experts in the US. And if you want to talk to me or connect with other experts, DM/email. This is a good opportunity to do good. (4/n)
As the whole world is trying to reach aid and help to Indians, a critical first step is for
@PMOIndia
@narendramodi_in
to temporarily suspend all FCRA licensing requirements to receive foreign funding. The diaspora is desperate to help. Harness their support!
#suspendFCRA
India has the highest share of emigrants who are highly educated.
A consequence of an education system designed for "selecting" the best and brightest in an economy that is still too controlled and can't create opportunities for its best and brightest.
In the current devastation in India, my gratitude to the thousands of workers (almost all Dalit) at morgues and crematoria, working tirelessly to ensure some semblance of dignity for those who have died.
India should immediately welcome any Ukrainian. No visa conditions/requirements.
It's the best way to support Ukrainians NOW. A way to recover lost moral ground from its UN blunder in the short run. And in the longer run remain aligned with liberal not authoritarian nations.
Just made 3 condolence calls to close childhood friends who have lost a parent to Covid in Delhi. Conversation - “can’t get a death certificate”, “do you know anyone at the crematorium to get us a slot”, “I will see my dad’s cremation on video if I am lucky.” I feel numb.
On the 30th anniversary of the budget speech that liberalized India from socialism, I am thrilled to announce The 1991 Project
@mercatus
.
A year long project to revive the discourse on growth-centered economic ideas to unleash the next stage of reforms.
Some Indian editors and many of you have asked me to write about the demonetization case in the Supreme Court. I declined because as an economist I don’t review comedy/satire/farce.
Please find one of those writers. After all Adam Smith highlighted the gains from specialization.
After listening to DYC’s interviews I am convinced he (and many of his colleagues) are in the wrong branch of government. Instead of their current judiciary+executive position, they should try their hand at the legislature.
EXCLUSIVE | VIDEO: "Supreme Court judgement on Ram Janmabhoomi was the judgement of the court, not any individual. So the author of the judgement was not named. It was a case of long conflict and diverse viewpoints," Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud tells
@PTI_News
on…
There are a lot of problems with American democracy, but it is still a country where private companies can ban the president from their platforms without fear of retribution. Meanwhile we have no idea where Jack Ma is or what happened to him.
My column in
@livemint
@Mint_Opinion
. The govt has waged a war against the informal economy for the past 5 years because they conflate informality with corruption. Resulting in blunders like DeMon and GST causing depressed domestic demand.
This this post by
@mrohanshah
- who tried starting a manufacturing unit in India - experiencing a horror that goes beyond Kafka proportions. This is why India remains poor - the licence permit raid raj has colonized Indians with paperwork.
I think we have seriously underestimated Imran Khan's strategic capability. Between returning WC Abhinandan and complaining to the UN on a charge of eco-terrorism he is a few steps ahead of the Indian leaders who are only focussed on the next election.
I have received a few dozen messages on the attempt to rename India, that largely read, "BHARAT?!?!?!".
A brief thread on this latest craziness of a possible name change. (1/n)
Completely stop all train travel. This may seem drastic like it taxes the poor the most but actually it will protect the poor. India’s trains are not only hotbeds for spreading the virus but will also affect so far unaffected districts and cities. 2/n
Where everyone sees kindness and this wonderful lady’s spirit, I mainly see the glaring state failure that necessitated her showing kindness in this particular way. Enough about Mumbai’s spirit, can we fix Mumbai’s roads?
This lady apparently stood in the rain for five hours & warned commuters about an open manhole.
How often have you encountered such selfless acts of kindness?
Tenured and promoted to associate professor. It takes a very large community of academics to raise a young scholar, and I feel very fortunate to be part of such a community. As Buchanan would say, onwards and upwards.
In my latest
@bopinion
column I argue that to protect Americans the Biden Administration must help India battle the second wave. (1) Remove restrictions on critical exports under the Defense Production Act;(2) Ship 20 million unused doses of Astra Zeneca .
I've been thinking about a subgenre of Hindi film music from '50-70 that's disappeared. The cabaret/club/dance song where the female singer raised philosophical questions.A departure from the usual cabaret/club/dance songs meant to titilate/objectify/sexualize/pine. 10-Song 🧵 👇
I’ve always held India’s election commission in very high regard. But even more so today. We need to build a statue of Sukumar Sen in every parliamentary, state, and municipal constituency.
I have heard from a lot of Indian graduate students in the US having a very hard time right now, between end of semester work and the devastation in India. Feel free to reach out. And if you all think a big zoom call would help let me know in the replies, I’ll set it up.
India needs mobile testing vans. It has had great success with mobile vans during the polio vaccine drive and in some regions for cataracts etc. this is the best way to ensure that hospitals are not overburdened. 5/n
Another day, another paper rejection. By editors who work on Vermont or Connecticut, and with no sense of irony, declare that a paper on Indian political economy is not of broad academic interest without a more generalizable theoretical model.
In our latest paper “Premature Imitation and India’s Flailing State’
@ATabarrok
and I argue that India passes laws it cannot enforce due to weak state capacity, because Indian elites prematurely imitate policies that are desirable among western elites.
Dear Hindu Uncle,
If your lord is truly the benevolent, omniscient, omnipotent being you claim, HE doesn’t need a revenge-flood to demonstrate petty vindictiveness for allowing women in a temple to worship HIM. He also doesn’t need your protection.
Sincerely,
Logic and Reason
Convert school buildings to temporary quarantine centers immediately. This way every single district is ensured a quarantine center with running water and basic facilities. 6/n
They are “shocked” that the 84 year old man suffering from Parkinson’s, who repeatedly said he won’t survive custody, died after prolonged custody because they denied him bail?
Court - With all humility at our command, we are sorry to know that he has passed away . We are shocked. We passed orders for his hospital admission on the first day.
#BombayHighCourt
India is very good at crisis management as seen during demon and blackouts etc. Indians are very cooperative and social cohesion is very high. That is a huge benefit during a pandemic. We must tap into social cooperation while creating social distance. 10/n
I have major issues with Modi's address to Congress. Eg India's "freedom after 1000 years of foreign rule in one form or another."
But criticizing his English is very poor form. He gave a solid speech, in a high stakes environment, in a non-native language. How many can do that?
My latest column for
@livemint
@Mint_Opinion
which argues that non-Hindi speaking Indians will not tolerate Hindi imposition because learning Hindi offers no clear economic benefits. Hindi belt is poorer, offering no economic or social mobility.
Govt should issue a mandate to shut all schools, colleges, temples, movie theaters etc. this needs to happen on a war footing. People still don’t understand the extend of how infectious the virus is and how quickly it can spread. 4/n
Students routinely email me asking me what they should read in public choice/constitutional political economy. I am going to post some of the classic papers in the field once or twice a week. Follow this thread.
#publicchoicecanon
Thrilled to announce the first episode of the Ideas of India with Shruti Rajagopalan Podcast with Prof
@ajay_shah
on state capacity and policy priorities. Available at
@Mercatus_Bridge
(with a transcript) and on Spotify, Apple, Stitcher, etc. for download
In my latest
@livemint
@Mint_Opinion
column I argue that the farm bill reforms are a good idea. Farmers' grievances are a result of state policies trapping them in unproductive agriculture. The solution is to reform land policy & tackle low productivity.
In my latest
@livemint
@Mint_Opinion
I argue that the movement for love jihad laws are proof of progress - of how far India has come with interfaith marriage. If these marriages weren't happening and socially acceptable, such laws would never be demanded.
I would add that we need to take massive emergency precautions in Mumbai. Stop all local train travel. The high density in Mumbai is a very big problem for COVID19 containment. 11/n
I started my newsletter Get Down and Shruti to write about Indian political economy and culture.
My first substack post on why everyone should pay more attention to India.
I would also place severe restrictions on air travel. It spreads the virus rapidly because those affected but not showing symptoms yet are willing and able to travel and unknowingly spread the virus. 3/n
I just found out that my teacher Walter Williams passed away last night. He taught me price theory and was one of my favorite thinkers and favorite people. And I constantly aspired to teach economics like he taught me. This is such a big loss.
When I look through pictures and videos of my mom to post on Mother’s Day, I mostly find good music :) but that’s what happens when your mother is a rockstar! Playing one of my favorites, Ghana Raaga Panchakan - a Tanam in five raagams - Nattai, Goulai, Arabhi, Varali and Sri.
Those who are lamenting the loss of labour protection because UP and MP suspended labour regulation need to understand that 90% of India's labour for never had that protection in the first place. The restrictions either prevented hiring, or created "contractor/dalal system". 5/n
On Ambedkar Jayanti, I want to share my favorite Ambedkar quote which I think is crucial to understand as an economist and student of the market process. "The Caste System is not merely a division of labour. It is also a division of labourers.“
On Savitribai Phule’s birth anniversary, just want to share this beautiful painting of Phule made by the marvellous Malvika Raj using the Madhubani style.
Prashant Bhushan quoted Gandhi from his sedition trial. Here’s the dramatized scene from the movie. The only difference is this colonial judge had the decency to be embarrassed about his hand in enforcing unjust laws to further an unjust regime.
India’s major disadvantage is that hundreds of millions still do not have access to piped water and good sanitation facilities. If water sources like wells etc get contaminated, it would be catastrophic. And states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and MP are most at risk with water. 7/n
IMO the election commission has the best blueprint for reaching the last mile. Mobile Health centers and testing centers should be based on the voting booth blueprints. It is designed to reach all and has been down many times before. 9/n
"Will the government actually do it? Change the name?
Well, a government crazy enough to invalidate 86% of the currency and announce the most stringent lockdown for 70+ days obviously doesn't care much about inconveniencing regular people.
So yes, they are callous enough...5/n
My favorite thing about Ganesh is that he was the scribe for Ved Vyas when Vyas composed the Mahabharata. A writer so great the lord must be his scribe. And a lord so wise, he can recognize a great writer when he sees one.
My latest Substack post on what crossed connections and wrong numbers (and their disappearance) in Hindi cinema tells us about Indian political economy. A story in 18 movie clips.
I am rereading parts of The Fabric of Civilization by
@vpostrel
, and it is truly one of the most underrated books I have read in the last few years.
History of science, technology, economic history, economic geography, and feminism and fashion packed into one sensational story!
First, UP and MP have started suspending labour regulation. This should have been done decades ago, even without Covid. These laws, while well intentioned, have had terrible unintended consequence of creating a monstrous unorganized sector. 2/n