venturing.in

Category: Essays

  • America’s Presidential Election

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on America’s presidential election:

    Early next month, Americans will decide whether to re-elect Democrat Barack Obama as President or vote in Republican Mitt Romney instead. Reports of America’s decline have been greatly exaggerated—it remains the world’s most powerful nation, although it does run the risk of being eclipsed by China in a couple of decades. With the global economy still struggling and tensions in the Middle East still high, a presidential election in the US is bound to have far-reaching consequences beyond American shores. A Romney victory will be better for economic growth in America and will weaken the renewed global allure of interventionist or authoritarian state capitalism that is more likely to end up in crony, rather than competitive, markets.

    More here.

  • Economic Freedom Is Necessary For Political Freedom

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on which political parties gain and lose from India’s economic liberalization:

    …Indians are not politically free. Those wielding power and influence can manipulate and coerce their fellow citizens with impunity because of the abject poverty that plagues the vast majority of Indians. It is commonplace for politicians to dole out freebies at election time that include everything from loan waivers to colour televisions and laptops. That citizens unthinkingly barter their vote for short-term material benefits reflects their economic weakness, makes them susceptible to coercion and degrades democracy.
    The use of money and muscle power during election time is well documented—the media, which is also heavily dependent on government advertisements, has been known to be paid off to manipulate the public discourse by certain political parties and candidates for public office.
    More here.

  • Technology For Agriculture Productivity

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on why bottom-up structural reforms rather than continuous monetary stimuli is necessary for the world economy:

    It is short-sighted and immature to attribute wholly the issue of farmer suicides to any higher priced GM seeds. Blaming a better seed that increases agricultural productivity for farmer indebtedness is like blaming investment in productivity-enhancing, albeit more expensive, machinery for the financial collapse of a company.

    More here.

  • Structural Reforms Rather Than Monetary Stimuli

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on why bottom-up structural reforms rather than continuous monetary stimuli is necessary for the world economy:

    It is important to understand that structural reforms—especially in the labor markets like more freedom to hire-and-fire—combined with limited stabilizers like a minimum income program is a better way for a civilized society and state to take care of those who fall through the cracks instead of constant fiscal or monetary stimuli.

    More here.

  • Bridging India’s Social Capital Deficit

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on how to bridge India’s social capital deficit:

    If channelized properly, India’s diversity can be a big competitive advantage relative to other economies. A boost in social capital that contains and reverses the balkanization of Indian society will allow this diversity to be harnessed for innovation and creative collaboration. India needs market liberalization not just for economic growth but also for social integration.

    More here.

  • Freedom Is Development

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on why freedom is development (contra Amartya Sen, whose book is titled “Development As Freedom”):

    …state-enforced egalitarianism is a legitimate position to have and one for which we have some sympathy in a still poor nation like ours (although we would like more taxing-and-spending by the States through public-private partnerships in the social sector too, and less socio-economic engineering by the central government of a billion-plus country through top-down bureaucracies hoping for some benefits to “trickle down”). But to pretend that mandated redistribution is somehow consistent with liberty and individual freedom – indeed is the very essence of liberty or freedom itself – is to indulge in Orwellian sophistry.

    More here.

  • Food Stamps For Food Security

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on bringing efficiency and quality to food welfare:

    Building on this broad political consensus, the Union government could design a comprehensives program that provides food security to India’s masses in the form of food stamps that can be encashed not just at government ration shops but also at modern retail chains and supermarkets built by global and Indian retailers. Such food stamps could be used to buy groceries, grains and packaged food at any shop, private or public. Any fraud or misuse of food stamps can be prevented by leveraging the UID program to target subsidies effectively – the benefit could even be delivered electronically via smart cards.

    More here.

     

  • Fund Students, Not Schools

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on why public funding in education should go to students, not schools:

    Poor parents also have voted with their small pockets and have said no to a “free” government option, because they know that private schools give a better education. We all agree that quality schooling should be available to one and all, then why only subsidize government-run schools? We should have choice and competition. We should fund students, not schools. Once we subsidize more private schools, albeit indirectly through students – even more new schools will be created.

    More here.

  • Commerce For Wildlife Conservation

    Harsh and I have co-authored a piece on how commerce enables wildlife conservation:

    India’s geography and wildlife is as diverse as its population – few other nations can match the richness and variety of the landscapes, flora and fauna on offer. The tragedy has been this wealth has been inaccessible for too long. India’s national parks, mountains, forests and beaches are not well connected to towns and cities, where consumers live. Road and air connectivity has been available only since a decade – a lot remains to be done. Tourism is an effective and efficient way to create incentives for wildlife conservation while affording a sustainable means of livelihood to the local population.

    More here.