Category: Uncategorized

Chomsky, the Father of Modern Linguistics

Noam Chomsky is a very intelligent person. I do have more than a hint of his brilliance in linguistics because I studied formal grammar and languages during my computer science days. It would be foolish to deny his stellar contributions to his field of expertise. It will be equally foolish to take him seriously in matters that are outside his field.

Insight, knowledge and understanding in some domain does not overflow into other domains, sometimes not even into neighboring domains. Shakespeare was a great poet and an acute observer and commentator on the human condition. But I would not trust him to teach me quantum mechanics. Continue reading “Chomsky, the Father of Modern Linguistics”

Buffet and Munger on Cryptocurrencies

I wouldn’t bother commenting on  crypto currencies because I don’t understand the topic. But this is just too good to pass up. Buffet and Munger are not fans of the stuff. CNBC reported back on Jan 10, 2018 that Warren Buffett thinks cryptocurrencies will end badly. 

Buffet considers it a method of transmitting money and has no intrinsic value. He has said that bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared” and noxious.

This is from the Berkshire Hathaway AGM last weekend in Omaha, Nebraska:  Continue reading “Buffet and Munger on Cryptocurrencies”

The Peter Principle in Action

Almost half a century ago, in 1969, Laurence Peter published what’s known as the Peter Principle. The principle, originally formulated to explain the dynamics of hierarchical organizations such as firms, is applicable broadly across many domains, including governance.

The principle notes that people tend to get promoted till they reach a level which they are not qualified for and at which they are incompetent. “In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence, … and in time every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties.”  Continue reading “The Peter Principle in Action”

Mamata Banerjee is a Retard

Sorry that I have to disturb the serene silence of this blog with a rant against the Islamist chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Begum (or whatever her Arabic name is.) As this is a family-friendly blog, let me put it as politely as I can: she’s a f**king retard. And what’s more, the people of Bengal who support her are bigger effing retards than she is. What provoked me? Here’s her tweet:

Air India is the jewel of our nation? Are you effing kidding me? Is it just ignorance or stupidity (perhaps both) that the average Indian who is not ever likely to set foot in an airplane has been forced (at the point of a gun) to pay for the incompetency of those who run Air India? Is she that abysmally stupid and/or heartless that she wants Air India to continue bleeding the poor of India, while the politicians and bureaucrats and their hanger-ons use Air India as their private FREE airline?
Continue reading “Mamata Banerjee is a Retard”

India’s Enemy, the State

I have consistently argued for years that the greatest enemy of the Indian people is the government of India.

India doesn’t have to be pathetically poor. But the government makes sure that Indians remain poor by preventing them from creating wealth. It’s a toxic mixture of idiocy, greed, and stupidity of the politicians and their bureaucratic minions. Why is this so? I believe the stage was set by the British.

The Anti-prosperity Machine

The British imposed an extractive and exploitative government on India. They created the original “anti-prosperity machine”. That is natural, expected and entirely reasonable since the British were colonizers. Colonizers don’t colonize out of altruism. They do it to — let me repeat that — to exploit and extract. The Indian government is a British creation, designed with the specific purpose of keeping the Indian people under its control. After the British left, those who took over realized that as the new masters, the system suited them perfectly well. All the talk about Indians gaining freedom from an oppressive government is a lot of hogwash that only the stupidly deluded can believe. Indians are still enslaved. They are still not free to create wealth. Here’s an example I came across in a hard-hitting piece by Raghav Bahl. Continue reading “India’s Enemy, the State”

Prospects for Indian Development Models – Part 2

Vocabulary

All revolutions begin in dictionaries.[1] I think that all confused thinking begins with an improper understanding of words — and often ends in needless man-made misery. To think and discourse effectively, we must define precisely the words we use. In the context of economics, words like “capitalism” have been misused and the concepts abused to the point that all related discussions are pointless. Douglass North said, “I don’t know what the word capitalism means and therefore I have never used the term.” [2]

If North, a Nobel laureate economist, hesitated using that word, who are we to use the word without at least attempting a definition? Dictionary definitions don’t quite serve the purpose. Every shorthand definition is inadequate for complex concepts. Understanding comes prior to the formulation of a concise statement of the idea, not after. It’s like the mathematical equation E=mc² — you have to understand a truckload of basic physics ideas before you can come anywhere close to understanding what the equation implies. Continue reading “Prospects for Indian Development Models – Part 2”

DIY BS Detection Meter

In a comment, Akshar asked, “As a lay person one of the question I have always had in my mind about economics is that how exactly should I separate good opinion from bullshit vending. …  If as a layman I can’t tell the difference between informed opinion on economics v/s Bullshit why should I take Mr. Atanu Dey more seriously or why should I waste my time supporting Milton Friedman’s ideas.”

It is an unalterable fact of life that since time is a scarce resource we have to rely on others for most of what we value, whether physical or non-physical. We don’t have the time to discover for ourselves all the truths of mathematics, the laws of physics, the facts of nature; or invent technology (i.e., how to do things), grow food, build houses, engineer machines, make clothes, and so on. Given the limitations of time and cognitive abilities, we depend on trade and the division of labor that it entails. Each of us specializes to some degree. What I earn by writing code I exchange for everything else I need.

So how do I choose from among what’s on offer? As it happens, there are institutions in society that help in this regard. For most goods and services, we reply on the markets for signaling quality. If something continues to appeal to a large number of consumers for extended periods of time, it is probably OK for me. And of course my own taste guides me to choose among the many alternatives. Continue reading “DIY BS Detection Meter”

Prospects for Indian Development Models – Part 1

Economic development of nations is a vast topic that people are unlikely to reach a consensus on ever. It lies beyond what’s even theoretically feasible. It’s a big enough elephant that defies easy characterization, and the best we can hope for is that the necessarily partial views are not obviously wrong.

Economists have debated the topic since the very beginnings of the discipline of economics. Indeed, the enterprise of economics was motivated by the very question of what economic development is. Adam Smith’s book, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, published in 1776 represents the first comprehensive attempt at systematizing the subject.

It’s the nature of the beast that makes it so intractable. An economy is an organic, living, breathing, dynamic, evolving thing. Unlike the inanimate objects that the natural sciences (physics being the foundational science) study, economists have at the core of their subject something that thinks, has volition, acts and reacts — the individual human. Economics is not, and cannot be, a science in the sense that physics is. Continue reading “Prospects for Indian Development Models – Part 1”

Prospects for Indian Development Models – Prelude

Prelude

The title of this post is borrowed from a YouTube video. Shri Rajiv Malhotra interviewed Shri S. Gurumurthy recently and the first two of a three-part series have been published on YouTube here and here. I confess to great trepidation in addressing myself to the matters that the two discussed, not because I am not confident of my own position but rather because of who they are.

I have deep respect for Shri Malhotra whom I have had the distinct privilege of spending time with. He is inspired and inspiring. He is one of those rare successful American NRIs who employ their fame, fortune, talents and energy in the service of not just the mother country but all humanity. The members of that tribe you can count on the fingers of one hand. Continue reading “Prospects for Indian Development Models – Prelude”

Guess who said this

OK, here’s something interesting. Who said the following:

It’s a rare person who can achieve a major goal in life and not almost immediately start feeling sad, empty, and a little lost. If you look at the record – which in this case means newspapers, magazines, and TV news — you’ll see that an awful lot of people who achieve success, from Elvis Presley to Ivan Boesky, lose their direction or their ethics.

Actually, I don’t have to look at anyone else’s life to know that’s true. I’m as susceptible to that pitfall as anyone else . . .  Continue reading “Guess who said this”