So last week a producer from BBC World called to say that they are doing a series on India for India’s 60th Independence Day and they would like to interview me. They did not have to twist my arm. I am always willing to express my opinion, as most of you know. Therefore those of you who missed me the last time I was on BBC World (June 2006 when they were doing a special on “China and India: Emerging Giants”), this is your chance once again.

At first it was a good idea. About seven years ago, I had been persuaded to join Ryze, a professional networking site. All fine and dandy. Then like poison weeds these networking sites started blooming. Now there’s Linkedin and Facebook. The evil spreads. I am getting a tad tired of dealing with the invitations to confirm so-and-so as my friend. So I have decided to pull the plug on these networking sites and delete my membership.

Expectation Matters
George Akerlof’s seminal contribution to economic theory is in the area of information imperfection and how it affects markets. Information asymmetry between the buyers and sellers of used cars (very poor quality used cars are the lemons that Akerlof talks about) leads to that specific market failure. The role of expectations is critical in that specific case. In fact, I am persuaded that expectations play a very important role in how human systems behave dynamically.