Category: Random Draws

I am forced to put this one on my blog because Kapil Sibal would like to censor this kind of stuff. He wants to control what we see, hear, and read on the internet. Mr Sibal, up yours.

Who is Antonia Maino a.k.a. Sonia Gandhi? An average Italian woman who married some guy who ended up becoming the prime minister of India. She acquired the last name “Gandhi” that she currently uses through marriage. Many women traditionally take on the last name of their husbands. That is unexceptionable. What’s remarkable is how she — aided by her minions such as Manmohan Singh, Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram — is wrecking the country. One can argue that she is responsible for India’s current decline (as if India was not already awfully impoverished) but I believe she is only the proximate cause. The ultimate cause lies elsewhere.
Continue reading “Is Antonia Maino aka Sonia Gandhi Really to Blame?”

When one is talking about anything that has to do with economics, I think it is best to use a bit of common sense and to stick to the basics. Recently, the government has moved to allow up to 51 percent foreign direct investment in “multi-brand” retail in India (and single brand retail is allowed 100 percent FDI.) Some people (and some parties such as the BJP) oppose FDI in retail. The question whether FDI in retail is good or not is being hotly debated. The debate is pointless because it takes only a few minutes to get to the heart of the matter. Here’s my take on the matter.
Continue reading “Organized Retail”

In India’s case, being ruled by foreigners has perhaps become something of a habit. What else can it be if something is so persistent that it lasts centuries. The most recent foreign rule was by the British, nominally ending around mid-20th century. I say “nominally” because what replaced it was really a continuation of the British raj under the brown sahibs (and now under a gora memsahib.)
Continue reading “Of Brown Sahibs and their Gora Memsabhib Boss”

Allow me to explain the context of my rhetorical question in my previous post in which I asked, “Is Advani merely senile is he really intent on destroying the only chance India has of getting rid of UPA/Congress raj?”
Continue reading “Advani Should Exit Gracefully”

. . . is he really intent on destroying the only chance India has of getting rid of UPA/Congress raj? Inquiring minds would like to know.

If you like thinking about thinking, then Daniel Kahneman‘s book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” will delight you. Here’s a bit from the introduction:
Continue reading “Reading: “Thinking, Fast and Slow””

Allow me to share something personal with you: I cannot go to bed without brushing my teeth. I may be sick as a dog, or bone tired, or totally sozzled, or massively sleepy. It does not matter. I feel all yucky if I lie down without brushing. I am glad that I have that habit. I don’t have to think about it, I don’t have to struggle, I don’t have to force myself in any way. Almost as if on auto-pilot I end up brushing my teeth before bed. It would be good to grow into the habit of being honest.
Continue reading “The Habit of Being Dishonest”

Yesterday evening I was at the National Law School in Bangalore. I was invited to have a conversation with the students on the subjects covered in my book, Transforming India. It was a lively conversation and in fact quite heated at points. I enjoy a good argument — sometimes I think I should have been a trial lawyer. In any event, I argued my case and to my pleasant surprise there was push-back from some of the students.
Continue reading “Libertarianism and Humility”

The world is reaching a milestone – nominally today – 7 billion people are alive in the world. I suppose there must be some uncertainty about that number; perhaps we have to give or take 100 million or so. It has been estimated that the total number of people who have ever lived is around 100 billion. Thus around 7 percent of people who have ever lived are alive today. That’s an incomprehensively large number.
Continue reading “Praying for an External Shock”