April 23, 2013
by Atanu Dey
3 Comments
India is not doomed to be poor due to factors outside its control. Yet India is desperately, depressingly, chronically, and acutely poor. Why is that so and what is missing? I explore this question in this piece which is part … Continue reading
June 14, 2012
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
Economic growth, development, progress—whatever you call it—is neither inevitable nor impossible. There are lots of examples of economies that continue to struggle with economic growth. And there are many examples of economies that have made rapid progress. What distinguishes the … Continue reading
September 26, 2009
by Atanu Dey
11 Comments
Let me tell you a story. It’s a vignette of what I consider to be important although it may appear to be rather trivial. Perhaps its apparent triviality is what should astonish us. But allow me to first recount a … 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
March 3, 2009
by Atanu Dey
5 Comments
That’s the title of the course I am conducting at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. It is a small class of about 15 students. It’s a half-credit elective in the final term of the year. We have had two … Continue reading
February 16, 2009
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea,” advised Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Does … Continue reading
July 19, 2008
by Atanu Dey
3 Comments
Anyone familiar with the disastrous state of India should not be overly surprised to learn that the Indian parliament has an overwhelmingly greater percentage of criminals than the general population. How effectively a nation functions and how successful it is … Continue reading
June 3, 2008
by Atanu Dey
8 Comments
This is a follow up to the previous post, “Begging for a World Class University.” In this I will address two responses to the post: one, the comment left by Aditya, and two, a post by Pramode titled “A Question … Continue reading
May 28, 2008
by Atanu Dey
13 Comments
Consider this scenario. Someone you know imprisons his grown up children and does not allow them to go out and do jobs that they are fully capable of doing. He also locks up his productive assets and prevents his children … Continue reading
March 19, 2008
by Atanu Dey
19 Comments
That’s what a report in the Hindustan Times claims: US $13 billion each year. Figures such as these are unbelievable but I suppose someone must have done the numbers. In any case, I had estimated that number to be around … Continue reading
March 9, 2008
by Atanu Dey
8 Comments
I have it on good authority that Satyameva Jayate is India’s national motto. The English translation of the Sanskrit is “Truth Alone Prevails.” Is that claim itself true? Can it really prevail in a land where some people are afraid … Continue reading
March 4, 2008
by Atanu Dey
10 Comments
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. – Alexander Tytler Some numbers are well beyond human … Continue reading
February 29, 2008
by Atanu Dey
1 Comment
There appears to be a thriving cottage industry which is primarily engaged in churning out shallow pieces of journalistic garbage. The pieces detail a particular person’s or family’s struggles and then juxtapose it in some dramatic way with perceived overall … Continue reading
February 17, 2008
by Atanu Dey
9 Comments
Don’t read Tavleen Singh’s column “Educating the Education Minister” in the Indian Express today if you wish to continue being puzzled by the question why India is poor. Basic decency and propriety prevents me from suggesting what should be done … Continue reading
November 1, 2007
by Atanu Dey
6 Comments
Golf, not Chess Economic growth in a sense, and to a much larger extent economic development, is more akin to a game of golf than a game of chess. In golf, the opponent’s moves matter very little; you may as … Continue reading
June 3, 2007
by Atanu Dey
2 Comments
The makers of monsters and their fates are inextricably tied, both in fiction and in real life. Dr Frankenstein’s monster. Dr Faustus. Mrs Gandhi, the elder and Sant Bhindranwale. The CIA and Osama bin Laden. The CIA and the Taleban. … Continue reading
February 16, 2007
by Atanu Dey
10 Comments
Don’t know much about history. Thanks to the government control of education, we are not told inconvenient truths. Fortunately, in this day of free information flow, one is slowly getting wise. I think it is just a matter of time … Continue reading
October 19, 2006
by Atanu Dey
17 Comments
The mother of all thunderstorms is roaring outside the window as I write this from Kolkata. I got here last night from Pune after a brief stop-over in Mumbai. The sky was ominously dark this morning and now it is … Continue reading
May 7, 2006
by Atanu Dey
32 Comments
George Bernard Shaw with characteristic cynicism noted that a government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. Regardless of their specific stripes, all Indian governments, because they are “democratically” elected, naturally solve the … Continue reading
March 5, 2006
by Atanu Dey
5 Comments
BBC reports that the US has done a U-turn and is not opposed to the Iran-India LNG pipeline through Pakistan. I suppose that the US has finally figured out that the pipeline would make India vulnerable to even more Pakistani … Continue reading