A Potent Combination of Stupidity and Greed

It is hard to point to a more illuminating example of a dangerous combination of stupidity and greed (even more than the on-going global financial meltdown) than an email that landed in my inbox this morning. The subject line was “If any body delete Shiridi Sai Baba message without darshan & forwa” and it was forwarded by one Mr K R Tilak. Evidently I was the lucky recipient after a few dozen forwards, and all the forwarding information was intact. The content appeared after pages and pages of long lists of email addresses to which the message had been forwarded. The content was brief: Continue reading “A Potent Combination of Stupidity and Greed”

Narendra Modi for PM — NOW!

The more I hear of what Narendrabhai is doing in Gujarat, the more I believe that India needs him as the PM. The man has a backbone unlike the spineless bozo who shall remain unnamed here. The man has a brain. And the man knows what is economic development means and how to make it happen. The spineless bozo will not know development even if development came up and bit him on his behind.

If India cannot have Lee Kuan Yew, it is not a problem because India has Narendra Modi. That is not quite true — Gujarat has Modi, not India.

Here’s a piece on Modi. Go read it and admire the man. (Link thanks to Prashant Kothari.)

Happy Diwali

Dear blog visitors:

Happy Diwali, Happy Deepavali, Happy Lakshmi Puja, Happy Kali Puja, and Happy Bhai Duj.

Since Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, Diwali is really what the stock market needs. 🙂

Here are stories about Bhai Duj (or Bhai Dooj) below the fold. And below that, the details of the Five Days of Diwali.
Continue reading “Happy Diwali”

India’s Moon Probe

Finally

India is catching up with the USSR (which does not actually exist anymore) of nearly 50 years ago. The Soviet lunar space mission got off the ground with Luna 1 in Jan 1959. Two days ago India gave a fitting reply to it by launching Chandrayaan-I on its way to the moon. Aside from crash-landing on the moon a probe with the Indian flag in it, Chandrayaan-I will map the surface of the moon for two years. It brings to mind the US Lunar Orbiter Program of 1966-7 which photographed the surface of the moon.
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Incentives and Policies

Capturing Externalities

It’s an economics truism that generally people respond to incentives. If you truly and deeply understand that, you know a fundamental truth about the world.
Continue reading “Incentives and Policies”

Mandela’s 8 Lessons of Leadership

Among recent political leaders, Mandela stands out. You may not agree with him on all matters, but one has to respect what he achieved. Here’s an article in Time magazine which I thought was worth reading and reflecting upon.

Telecommunications and Rural India

India’s telecommunications infrastructure story is remarkable in many respects. It used to be a public sector monopoly not too long ago. Waiting time was measured in years and the service was as poor as the price was high. Things changed rapidly after the sector was liberalized and the private sector was allowed to provide telephone services. As there was practically no wire-line phone system to speak of in the early 90s — around 20 million phone lines for a population close to a billion — the legacy burden was entirely missing. Cellular technology effectively allowed India to leapfrog the older twisted wire landline system. Vigorous competition brought prices that are among the cheapest in the world.
Continue reading “Telecommunications and Rural India”

Ramachandra Guha on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Longings for a Nobel Prize

It’s been a while since I wrote a post on SSRS. To remedy that neglect, here’s something about the man.

Ram Guha wrote a funny entry in his Oslo diary with the title “Nobel Longings.” (Thanks to Sushant for the link.)
Continue reading “Ramachandra Guha on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Longings for a Nobel Prize”

Lee Kuan Yew on PURA

In an article in the Business Line titled “Kalam’s PURA will not work,” Lee Kuan Yew makes the case for urbanization of the population for India to develop.
Continue reading “Lee Kuan Yew on PURA”

Keith Hudson’s Lesson on the Present Crisis

I am privileged to be on Keith Hudson’s mailing list. He is an English polymath, a Renaissance Man in the strictest sense of the term. With his permission I am quoting from one of his musings on the present financial crisis. He quickly hones in on the systemic trouble at the base of the problem: that those who are in charge are incapable of comprehending the system, and the lag between the institutions of yesterday and today’s technical and scientifically advanced world.

Here, for the record, is an excerpt from Keith’s recent observations.
Continue reading “Keith Hudson’s Lesson on the Present Crisis”