Today’s poem is one of the saddest I have read in the English language. It is by W. H. Auden, dated around 1945. The last line encapsulates deep despair and sadness. I think it is best to read it when things are fine and life is not turbulent. Continue reading “Stop all the clocks”
The High Cost of Living — 2
The cost of living is high in India, as I mentioned the last time.
The dominant theme around where I live in Kalyani Nagar in Pune is one of massive construction. Multistoried residential buildings, shopping centers and office complexes are sprouting with astonishing rapidity. Despite the increase in the quantity supplied of floor space, the quantity demanded is growing even faster. This is evidenced by the fact that the price per square foot of built up space is growing at an astonishing 30 percent or more per year.
Continue reading “The High Cost of Living — 2”
Who am I?
The delightful story told in an earlier post Thoughts Without a Thinker must be followed by the story that Amar was kind enough to point me to on his blog. Go read Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art).
Elsewhere: The Voice of Ambition
A few days ago, Voice of Ambition called me to talk about the Indian economy. I would not be so immodest as to suggest that you listen to the podcast in which I appear, but I would certainly recommend that you check out the site.
The High Cost of Living
Burundi comes before Canada lexicographically but Canada leads in all measures of human welfare one could care to compare the two on. I am endlessly fascinated by the contrast between different parts of the world. How on earth did humans end up occupying such widely separated ends of the spectrum of economic development?
Continue reading “The High Cost of Living”
Fragments – 8
SAPIENTIA
Keith Hudson of Bath, England, whom we met on this blog, has a Daily Wisdom mailing list. Here is today’s item (#178):
Cervantes turned up today on the random page of Wednesday’s dictionary. The author of Don Quixote, the first, and some say, the greatest novel in the Western tradition, was an adventurer, soldier and prisoner-of-war, was admired by Shakespeare, his contemporary, and since then by Dostoevsky and many other intellectuals as one of the most perceptive observers of human nature ever. His noble-minded, but delusional Don Quixote and his credulous follower, Sancho Panza, remind one so much of today’s politicians and their manipulable electorates. Cervantes was the ultimate sceptic, both of what goes on in heaven and on earth, as today’s quotation reveals. Today, when the the most powerful nation on earth has elected the most culturally-restricted leader that it is possible to imagine, then we could do with a great deal more scepticism about the vaunted aims of those who seek to lead us and the democratic system which can allow such travesties to happen.
“Every man is as God made him, and often even worse.”
Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha (1615)
Holi Hai!
The management wishes everyone a wonderful Holi and lots of color in your life throughout the year.
{This is a picture from a wonderful Holi in Nagpur about 10 years ago. My sister Sunu and her son Rahul.}
Teledensity and GDP Growth
My colleague Veer Bothra is the Mobile Pundit. Recently he discussed teledensity and GDP growth where he quoted an email exchange from me on the distinction between correlation and causation. Here it is for the record:
Continue reading “Teledensity and GDP Growth”
The Indian Economy — RadioEconomics
Dr. Atanu Dey – Edward Hugh – The Economy of India
SUNDAY, MARCH 05, 2006
James Reese, Atanu Dey and Edward Hugh discuss the Indian economy.
Topics covered include: Indian development options; should India be treated as a single country; should India concentrate on services as an engine of growth; the role of public education in economic development; what role should the Indian government play in economic development, and what is their current 5 year plan; and prospects for the next 10 years.
Dr. Atanu Dey, an economist with Netcore Solutions living near Mumbai, India. Edward Hugh is a consulting economist living and working in Barcelona, Spain. Edward’s areas of research are demography, macroeconomics, and the Euro.
Copyright 2006 Radio Economics.
Downloads: 185 Today, 5000 This week
Rating: Squeaky Clean (G) ( MP3 / 17.6MB / 62Kbps / 38min 27sec )
Fragments – 7
I miss the days when I used to work at HP in the Silicon Valley. Those were the days. One of the high points of my time there (7 years ending in 1991) was my association with the Usenet group hp.mic. The quality of discussion and debate was a joy. A few months ago I joined a google group of ex-HP folks. Sure enough, some of the old hands were there. I am delighted to point you to Tom von Alten and his blog Ft Boise. The range of topics is matched only by the generosity of spirit that motivates it.
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 