Today is the 71st anniversary of the Republic Day of India. On Jan 26th, 1950, the constitution of India came into force. Here are a few posts from previous years. Last year’s post was “Whoever fights monsters …” Quote: Around… Read More ›
My writing elsewhere
Bit by Bit — Tiny Steps Toward a Totalitarian Solution
No sufficiently distant goal is achieved in one big step. But take enough number of small steps in the correct direction consistently, and you are guaranteed to reach your destination. Recall the “digital” solution that Ajit, the archetypal Bollywood villain… Read More ›
Ask Me Anything — The Demonetization Edition
Money is important. The real economy cannot function without a stable and predictable currency. Money serves as a numéraire, which the wiki defines as “a basic standard by which value is computed . . . the numéraire is one of the… Read More ›
Liberalism in India: Past, Present and Future
The Center for Civil Society convened a day-long conference on Nov 20th at The Claridges Hotel, New Delhi, to honor the memory of S V Raju. I attended and had the opportunity to meet with many friends and also some… Read More ›
Democracy and the Economics of Politics
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men . . .” The truth of Lord Acton’s observation gets confirmed with sickening regularity. Here I explore that point in the context of democracy. Why… Read More ›
India’s Prosperity is Made in India
I am not a fan of the Modi government’s “Make in India” advertising drive. My view is certainly unpopular. I think that advertising cannot (and must not) replace real changes in policies that could make India attractive to domestic and… Read More ›
My assessment of Modi government
I have been a long-time supporter of Shri Narendra Modi. But I am seriously disappointed at his performance as prime minister. Certainly he has done better than his predecessor, Sonia Maino. But she’s an Italian who really did not care… Read More ›
Speaking of Freedom of Speech
“If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led like sheep to the slaughter.” –George Washington The importance of the freedom of speech is underestimated by most people. George Washington stressed the instrumental… Read More ›
India Needs a New Constitution
Human societies are rule-based. Rules not just define human societies but rules also differentiate between societies. Sufficiently large collectives of of people (say 100,000 or more) are indistinguishable in terms of their endowments because we all belong to the same… Read More ›
Individual Freedom and Bondage
First post of 2014 and therefore sets the tone for the rest of the year — freedom. Individual freedom. Actually, freedom is about individuals. Collectives are really an abstraction and in reality only individuals exist. So to say that a… Read More ›