May 31, 2009
by Atanu Dey
19 Comments
There are some topics that make me see red. In that state, I cannot even think rationally, leave alone write coherently. I am so angry that this is not going to read well for sure. But this has to be … Continue reading
May 30, 2009
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
So much great stuff on the web, so little time. Here’s a handy little reader which I found on in the US Internet Archive. I checked out H L Menken’s “A Little Book in C Major“. See below for an … Continue reading
May 29, 2009
by Atanu Dey
0 comments
Here’s a collection of links for the weekend of May 30th.
May 29, 2009
by Atanu Dey
0 comments
Rajeev Mantri, executive director of Navam Capital, a Kolkata-based venture capital firm, writes in his piece in today’s Wall Street Journal on “Harnessing India’s Technological Potential” that “VCs typically consider India to be just a technology deployment market. That view … Continue reading
May 29, 2009
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal has an article today, “Missing Milton: Who Will Speak for Free Markets“, which makes me despair for India. Milton Friedman was arguably one of the greatest proponents of freedom, and naturally therefore, an … Continue reading
May 28, 2009
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
In yesterday’s Washington Times, Diana West has a review of Moothy Muthuswamy’s book, “Defeating Political Islam: The New Cold War.” A few bits of the review below the fold.
May 28, 2009
by Atanu Dey
3 Comments
Much of the benefits of modern life we enjoy and take for granted arises from scale economies in manufacturing — the larger the quantity manufactured by a firm, the lower the average cost. But there is a countervailing effect. Up … Continue reading
May 28, 2009
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
I am not really anti-social and neither am I a misanthrope. I love humanity in the abstract but I admit that I find most not worth the bother, and consider a significant number pretty intolerable. Upon reflection, I concluded that … Continue reading
May 27, 2009
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
You never thought of the web reflecting the morality that permeates human behavior, did you? I did not. I just read a fine article on the topic. The article title by David Weinberger, “The Morality of Links“, is a tad … Continue reading
May 26, 2009
by Atanu Dey
4 Comments
They say you can’t take it with you. So the only alternative is to keep it in safekeeping till you get back and reclaim what was yours when you reincarnate. Now you need not wonder where to stash your cash. … Continue reading
May 26, 2009
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
I don’t follow elections even though their outcomes dictate economic policies, which in turn determine the fate of economies. Given my interest in economic development, I should care about elections but I don’t. I also don’t follow the post-elections dissections … Continue reading
May 25, 2009
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
A short century ago the US and Argentina were rivals. Both were riding the first wave of globalisation at the turn of the 20th century. Both were young, dynamic nations with fertile farmlands and confident exporters. Both brought the beef … Continue reading
May 25, 2009
by Atanu Dey
8 Comments
I received an SMS just moments ago: “A thirteen-year old’s day in Surat: school 7 to 2. Daily tuitions 4:30 to 7:30. Saw ICSE standard 8th textbooks. Detailed and depressing. What a state!” No surprise to me as I have … Continue reading
May 24, 2009
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
In a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal titled “India’ Greatest Failure,” Paul Beckett writes about T.S.R. Subramanian who retired as India’s most senior civil servant in 1998. Beckett quotes from TSR’s book, “GovernMint in India” — “Since no … Continue reading
May 23, 2009
by Atanu Dey
5 Comments
The government of India is trying to gag people. You might object that that is as novel as the news that the Pope is Catholic. I agree. A socialist government cannot but rest on an uninformed citizenry. Truth is as … Continue reading
May 23, 2009
by Atanu Dey
3 Comments
We all want to make a difference. That comes effortlessly when one is dissatisfied with the current order of things. As the wise old dipsomaniac Omar Khayyam put it, “Ah love, could thou and I with fate conspire, To grasp … Continue reading
May 19, 2009
by Atanu Dey
4 Comments
The web is a wonderful place where if you have the required smarts, you can get yourself a pretty decent education. Just having a lot of information at the click of a mouse would not do. You have to know … Continue reading
May 19, 2009
by Atanu Dey
6 Comments
It is hard to reconcile poor governance with a population which is reasonably smart. The basic nature of reality does not admit such contradictions. The inescapable conclusion is that the population is not smart. Evidence of it is all around … Continue reading
May 18, 2009
by Atanu Dey
7 Comments
The greatest scandal and the greatest failure of the Indian governments (all of them, and practically all of them have been Congress) has been in education. A great economy and a great education system go hand in hand — though … Continue reading
May 16, 2009
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
My colleague Rajesh Jain writes to the about-to-be-formed new government of India in today’s Wall Street Journal and says, “Get us Involved and Lets [sic] get going.” He advices the new government (but I guess it will be the same … Continue reading