Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Indian Economists and Economics

Dr.Ashok V Desai has written a great article on how some of the great economists studied, worked and made impact on Indian economics over the years. Every one who is interested in Indian economics should read the article.

Prof Panagariya has also given us very timely interview in IE, wherein he says very perceptively that "From the beginning, the Left has been pretty strong in India, intellectually. The kind of Right that exists in other parts of the world, like Thatcherite or Reaganite, doesn't even exist in our system. All of us are by that measure left-of-centre." 

Monday, July 22, 2013

Read, well

Whether you like it or not, I strongly believe that one has to read between the lines to do things different in musings of once own. I simply follow as a matter of fact that unless you have something different to say or argue its better to keep mum and watch what's going around you. There are very good articles in today's newspaper/blogs etc. Here are some list:

Access to loos: Amartya Sen’s views fail the smell test


Let’s Shake Up the Social Sciences

Narendra Modi may end up making the Congress scion look less ineffective

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Poverty by polity

"Povertarianism"

"He was always warmed by how magnificent India was in so many aspects and felt that his role in life was to amplify this. He was attracted towards the idea of India as a Hindu nation, and it is in the company of like-minded people that he became certain of what was wrong and what it was that needed fixing. In their company he flowered."

"Nobel laureate Michael Spence, while presenting the report of the World Bank’s growth commission that he chaired, admitted that though the commission had found the ingredients for high growth, they had not discovered how to accelerate inclusion with growth, which was becoming an increasing demand everywhere."

" The Congress party's rented intellectuals, led by the NAC, took over the entire discourse and nobody dared to question them, although some fretted behind the scenes."

  • "NEVER in India's history has the economic discourse been so one-sided. In the past, there was at least the unabashedly contrarian Forum of Free Enterprise of Nani Palkhivala, A.D. Shroff and M.R. Pai. Now, we have all the venerable chambers, the CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM, hold grovelling conferences on "inclusive growth". Even in the red-hot Sixties, there was the Swatantra Party, which may not have counted for too much in numbers, and was easily reviled as a chamber of decrepit princes, but was represented by formidable parliamentarians like Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, K.M. Munshi, V.P. Menon, Minoo Masani, Piloo Mody, N.G. Ranga and Gayatri Devi."


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Prof F A Hayek & Narendra Modi

"Friedrich August Hayek, the Austrian-born philosopher and economist best known for his defence of classical liberalism, seemed to think it did, claiming that market economy inevitably required cultural underpinnings in the form of a set of “modern” values based on individualism. It’s a view echoed by American political scientistYoshihiro Francis Fukuyama for whom modernization, westernization, and democratization are all part of a single, unilinear process that will conclude when other cultures essentially ape the West. As opposed to this are the theories of cultural variation, which assert that there are different roads to modernization and different conclusions to the process of modernization." More here.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Upfront attacks

Former Finance Minister of India Yashwant Sinha says "..government led by Congress has destroyed every sector of the economy and is now destroying every institution of government. It will be criminal negligence on our part to allow them to get away with it."

In his latest article in NIE, veteran Indian nationalist liberal S.Gurumurthy attacks upfront ruling party's leaders. Very interestingly he asks "Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Gandhi too oxymorons?

"Manmohan Singh has given up on all claims to being an economist as that would have fetched howls of derisive laughter."

Monday, July 15, 2013

Trade, Naoroji and Poodbill

"...free trade areas should all be seen as building blocks of a liberal international order that could include and embrace China. China would obviously then have a right to shape that order, alongside Western powers, but its participation would also eventually help to move China domestically towards more openness, pluralism and rule of law, as desired by a growing number of its own people." More here.

"Naoroji, five-thousand miles away in London, only learned of his son’s death through a series of telegrams dispatched from Mandvi and Bombay. One can imagine the sense of shock, loneliness, and utter helplessness he felt after receiving these brief messages, knowing full well how impossible it was to avail of family support and solace in this time of grief. A telegram reading ‘console Dad’ provided the only fragile link with family members back home in Bombay." More here.

Illusion that was called pBill. "Putting aside for a moment the wide-ranging fiscal implications of the Bill, which are clearly negative, it needs to be evaluated under many non-financial criteria. There is a clear distinction between having needs and being needy. It is nobody’s case that the needy should not be protected. But is it fair to artificially pander to well above the majority of the population?"

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Very pertinent points


SSA Aiyar on "Worse, the new judgment could set off an avalanche of political vendettas. Politicians often launch false cases against opponents, sometimes in connivance with partisan judges. This deplorable ploy may be strengthened by the latest judgement. We desperately need to cleanse Indian politics, but not in this manner." More here.

Quite surprising and shocking analysis. "Another disturbing aspect of American aid agencies is their support for violent groups like the Maoists. Maoists are able to wage a prolonged war and purchase sophisticated weapons only because wealthy nations support them with money and indulge in propaganda on their behalf. Indian Maoists receive support from Jimmy Carter and the international “human rights” lobby.

Time to be CHANGE, yourself

I really don't think I should educate my readers rather I always feel that I should share what I (seems) read when I get time. And therefore, I don't want to write often in this blog by putting all those, if's, but's, because, yet, although, while, when, etc. on day to day uttering of politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, journalists and so on.

But let me utter something today on our nation!

Nation never waits for anyone to come up with a vision to change it, rather we the people try to change our-self every time when we feel there is something wrong in us or on others. Of course, there is always some kind of shoddy polity in any society and India is no different in this respect. But this small size and scale of shoddy polity moves across the spectrum of the society and destroys the cosmos of the basic human life. Mobs of power hungry people makes simple life into complex one almost forever for people who are otherwise lives in harmony.

Some French author wrote close to a century ago that the modern day political system was created by people who were unemployed and had nothing to do of their own. They lacked basic skills to do a simple job for basic living. At present, the ruling power in India seems to be in complete faith on the French author's description on politics.

I strongly believe that the quality of polity is quite dynamic concept when we do not have faithful leader to lead the nation.

This is high time to change the leadership in Indian polity. The one who articulates more with passion and clarity should be allowed to test his or her skills in improving the living conditions of poor not by making dependent but making people worthy by themselves.

Probably you know what I wanted to say!

Nothing new, but just read the Modi's few lines from his lecture which he gave in Pune and ponder about it for a minute!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Good reading

"This still leaves unanswered the question we raised earlier: how does this help the BJP reach out to the ideologically uncommitted voters it needs to win close to 200 seats? The prevailing wisdom seems to be that Modi’s stewardship of Gujarat has been so efficient, particularly in terms of economic development, that Indians committed to economic modernity — shareholders looking for a return on their investment, corporate houses frustrated by red tape, young people looking for jobs, farmers hungry for irrigation and electricity, the urban middle classes thwarted by bureaucratic irrationality and corruption, ordinary citizens maddened by absent infrastructure — will vote for a Modi-led BJP because their first priority is ‘governance’, not an unfortunate spasm of violence that happened more than a decade ago." More here

A large section of the Indian middle class, though living in the country, is in a state of mental exile.

While we were silent


Sunday, July 7, 2013

Make yourself, what you want to be

Everyone writes about what they pretend to be to do. Some build some stories, some buy someone's story as a matter of fact that someone is in power or someone is poor or for that matter someone is in better standard of living.

Here are some list:



Saturday, July 6, 2013

Must READ blogs/websites


Google Reader (GR) is no longer exists now. All my reading fodder was GR. I regularly read GR since 2004.

Reading helps you to create a sensible value in once actions and life. Reading right upfront and bold things of underneath of the prevailing political economics of India is something I did it for granted for all these years through GR. Now time to read directly visiting links like the one below, a few which one must read............   
  1. Niti Central-BOLD and RIGHT
  2. Centre Right India-right-wing political economics
  3. Pragati-strategies of geopolitical economics


Good views reading bad polity

I wrote a piece on UPA government's Food Security Bill in the Tamil magazine for this month. The online version is still not out. But the crux of the matter is described by various analysts in scattered way. Here is some along with other articles published recently which might be interest of you.