How society actually functions depends on how people expect it to function. Which means that if you could change expectations you could change society. Which requires will and wisdom. Continue reading “Expectations Matter”
Category: Random Draws
Life is All About Choices — and Paradoxes
Life is also about the paradox of choice. Economists obsess about choice because at the heart of it all, we have to choose among competing wants since we are bound by limits. Being able to choose freely is a good thing but even with choice, you could have too much of a good thing. Continue reading “Life is All About Choices — and Paradoxes”
General Patton’s Speech
Recently I was reminded of General Patton’s speech to his troops. I have been pondering the matter of urban educated Indians and their apparent apathy towards participating in the political process that fundamentally affects the way India is and how it is going to be. India lacks effective leadership. Continue reading “General Patton’s Speech”
Extraordinary Claims Investigated by the Profoundly Stupid
Would you believe it that there are newspapers that report total bs without an apology? Here’s one from the newpaper DNA with the rather puzzling slogan “Read the world” : a yogi has gone without food or water for 65 years. That’s an extraordinary claim. But it does not stop there. There are “scientists” who are seriously investigating the claim. That the more extraordinary bit. Continue reading “Extraordinary Claims Investigated by the Profoundly Stupid”
Just Thinking
Sorry for not keeping in touch. I have been traveling places, meeting people, doing stuff. Very busy by my (admittedly low) standards 🙂 Anyway, I am fine and thanks for asking. Here’s what I am thinking about Continue reading “Just Thinking”
Rajan Parrikar’s Pictures from the Mojave Desert
My friend Rajan Parrikar’s recent photo shoot in the Mojave Desert. He calls it Light and Shadow at the Trona Pinnacles.. “During a recent visit to Death Valley in California’s Mojave Desert, I overnighted in the desert town of Ridgecrest to shoot at the nearby Trona Pinnacles. This atmospheric locale has served as a setting for several well-known sci-fi movies and commercials. The basin with its Trona Pinnacles, the adjacent Searles Lake salt pan serviced by an unlikely railroad, and flanked by the Slate Range to the east and the Argus Mountains to the west, evokes an ambience that is at once enchanting, eerie, and alien.” Continue reading “Rajan Parrikar’s Pictures from the Mojave Desert”
Twins Separated at Birth?
There’s only so Much that Needs to Get Done
In a comment to a previous post Ketan wrote that the “total number of people required to produce all the goods & services needed to fulfill all the needs of Indian population is less than the available workforce.” I explore that point here. Continue reading “There’s only so Much that Needs to Get Done”
Why the Congress Must Go
It is generally true that most of the problems humanity suffers are created by humans. It is also generally true that humans eventually figure out solutions to those problems. However it is important to note that the two sets of humans — the problem-creators and problem-solvers — are disjoint sets. We can paraphrase Einstein’s astute observation: Problems cannot be solved by the same set of institutions and organizations that created them. India’s myriad modern problems have their genesis in one institution alone, the Congress party. In this post, I argue that for India to progress, Congress has to go. Continue reading “Why the Congress Must Go”
The Congested-shortage Economy
I.
The drive to the airport last week in Mumbai was no different from most drives in Mumbai. It was congested and progress was excruciatingly slow much of the way. The line at the security check was long. Only two of the five machines scanning the carry-on bags were working and progress was slow. That was the cause of the congestion at the security check. When the boarding time came — and went — I asked at the gate when will boarding start. At the check-in counter, I had been told that the flight was on time. Now I was told that the flight had not landed and was circling overhead — because of congestion at the airport. It’s a repeating pattern and it tells an interesting story. Continue reading “The Congested-shortage Economy”
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 