Capitalism is under attack from many directions today. In this context, Financial Times just published a fictional “Letter to Capitalists from Adam Smith,” praising what capitalism has achieved over the past 200 years. Despite its imperfections, the letter argues, it is much better than the alternatives. The fictional voice of Smith writes, “I am pleased to see that capitalism [...]
Jeff Sachs believes that the best way to alleviate global poverty is through massive doses of foreign aid (The End of Poverty). Michael Strong in his book Be the Solution offers a wager to compare two sets of countries after 20 years (p 190): Sachs–The 20 nations that have received the most government-to-government foreign aid [...]
Tags: FLOW, Jeffrey Sachs, Michael Strong
Our friends at the Foundation for Economic Education have created a great video that exposes the irony of entrusting governments with the task of protecting consumers from monopoly. Economic theory from Adam Smith to modern Public Choice and ample historical experience shows that this is unwise. It’s difficult to understand why people put so much [...]
Tags: Anti-trust, Monopoly
Sisters and brothers of India, the centre government has set aside $1.5 million as an endowment grant for creating a chair at University of Chicago to mark the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda. I have great admiration for the philosopher monk who promoted universal tolerance and religious harmony, and I think the Manmohan [...]
Tags: Bengal, Chicago, government spending, higher education, roads, Vivekananda
Today I saw an absolutely appalling, but sadly all too familiar, story about sterilization in Rajasthan. The government there is bribing women with the chance to win prizes in drawings – from food processors to cars – if they undergo sterilization. This is a horrific intrusion by the government into one of the most personal [...]
Tags: bribery, family planning, population, Rajasthan, sterilization
The Economist this week has a great piece on the current FDI debate. It’s worth a read, particularly because of how it explains that this legislation prioritses the needs of shoppers over those of middle men and shop keepers. That shouldn’t be forgotten. Amidst the furore, no one seems to be considering the great benefit [...]
There seems to be an obsession with quotas everywhere I look. Just this week, I’ve seen articles about quotas for Muslims, for SMEs, for SC/ST/OBCs. There are quotas in education and employment, in government procurement. These quotas concern me on several levels and for a variety of reasons. Quotas don’t make economic sense. Quotas say [...]
Tags: policy, quota, reservation
In the last two days, I’ve heard the Kolaveri song come up twice in very different conversations. It’s a big deal, one of these overnight sensations that comes up out of nowhere and is suddenly everywhere. It will likely be gone just as quickly, but at the moment, it has had over 80 lakh views [...]
Tags: Harvinder Singh, kolaveri, Sharad Pawar
There is a great post from Pramit Pal Chaudhuri today on the Hindustan Times’ Foreign Hand blog. It’s all about food price inflation and trade, and clearly articulates how the later can positively impact the former. Definitely worth checking it out.
The Draft Food Security Bill is up for a vote and there is an interesting debate raging about certain provisions, particularly those related to cash transfers. Should the government directly provide food to the poor through the public distribution system? Or should they provide cash which the poor can then use to buy food themselves [...]
