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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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.