tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215956662011-04-21T13:42:58.456-07:00Thinking about assorted economic issues in India.Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-63426903193288260912009-01-25T14:01:00.000-08:002009-01-25T14:45:17.213-08:00

I was reading an interesting paper called "Depression Babies: Do Macroeconomic Experiences Affect Risk-Taking." The economists examined whether macro-economic circumstances over an individual's lifetime affects their own economic behavior. "In particular, we test whether individuals who experienced low stock-market returns are less willing to invest in stocks and express more risk aversion, and

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-63547425665380046862009-01-18T10:39:00.000-08:002009-01-18T12:58:36.516-08:00

Can we use cell phone payment records to help fill a bank's informational gap when it assesses risk?From the point of view of a bank, lack of information about a potential borrower translates into higher risk of default and creates various distortions in credit markets like high interest rates, collateral requirements or credit rationing (borrower wants to borrow more at a given interest rate,

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-68034958367530670152009-01-11T07:48:00.000-08:002009-01-11T07:49:53.352-08:00

Response to http://indianeconomy.org/2009/01/10/et-tu-gurcharan/)Gurcharan Das is a very interesting and thought-provoking writer, but I agree that the China v India comparison is comparing apples to oranges at this point. The two countries were very similar in 30 years ago, but their trajectories have hugely deviated since then. One hard truth is that China's government has ensured a much better

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1150399984728204392006-06-15T12:11:00.000-07:002006-06-21T12:25:12.890-07:00

(First off, I would like to apologize for the extended absence. Between travel and upcoming relocation, my "thoughts" have not made it to the blogosphere. But I am now back to regular posting)An article in this week's Outlook caught my attention. "A Piece of Canada" talks about a new league of immigrants in Punjab-- farmers. But these are not farmers who plan to migrate to Canada to pursue

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1147876601402816992006-05-17T07:22:00.000-07:002006-05-18T08:42:27.446-07:00

The explosive protests against the government's plans to increase reservations in institutions of higher education have spurred debate about Indian education in general. On the topic of reforming K-12 education, one idea floating around is of vouchers for education. The basic premise behind vouchers is that parents have the choice and money to send their kids to private schools instead of being

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1147438279494965442006-05-12T05:50:00.000-07:002006-05-12T05:55:58.263-07:00

Two different stories are emerging from India and China these days.In India, companies are complaining about the availibility of educated, middle-class workers. My brother-in-law, who runs a software company based in Pune, said that he is finding it difficult to fill spots. Applicants don't show up to interviews as they are quickly lured away by higher pay elsewhere. As the pool of talent shrinks

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1147096563766119772006-05-08T06:42:00.000-07:002006-05-10T13:56:07.506-07:00

I have been reading "Dreams from My Father" by Barack Obama, a U.S Senator from Illinois. Some of you may have heard his moving address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Since hearing it, I have been interested in Obama, his politics and his probable ascent to become the first black President.Obama spent some of his childhood years in Indonesia and this experience stuck with him.

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1146097651985562972006-04-26T15:54:00.000-07:002006-04-30T16:42:55.813-07:00

India is, slowly but surely growing, and getting richer. According to the World Bank, the average GDP per capita in the period 1984-1994 grew 3.3% and in the period 1994-2004, it grew at 5.5%. The average per capita numbers are fine (remember-- population is growing too) but what the distribution of the income growth? That is, is everyone benefitting equally? According to two influential

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1145391618340679412006-04-18T13:11:00.000-07:002006-04-18T15:59:52.400-07:00

The Naxalite movement in India traces its roots to the peasant uprising in West Bengal's Naxalbari district in 1967. This movement was grounded in Mao Zedong's Communist philosophy of empowerment of landless laborers and the poor by overthrowing the goverment and landowners. In its early years, the movement inspired not only India's rural poor but also bright and young students to join its ranks.

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1143499838572370832006-03-27T14:40:00.000-08:002006-03-31T13:21:45.896-08:00

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appointed the Tarapore Committee to design a roadmap to put India on the path to full capital account convertibility (CAC).Let's get some basics on CAC straight. Full CAC means that individuals and corporations will be able to convert rupees to dollars (or some other foreign currency) freely wihout any limits or permission from the central bank-- the Reserve Bank

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1143149837434795982006-03-23T13:07:00.000-08:002006-03-27T07:33:18.350-08:00

Without better infrastructure, Indian growth will come to a grinding halt. Not that anyone should need anymore convincing about this but as I was reading an article in the recent Economist ("India Post: Rogue Mail") the idea was reinforced. Before I get to the connection to infrastructure, here is some background.The issue centers around the possibility of amending an 1898 law that established

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1142611322128911302006-03-17T06:36:00.000-08:002006-03-17T08:02:02.160-08:00

In his blog, Atanu Dey conjectures, "that the per capita availability of resources has something to do with the killing sprees that last decades in Burundi, with the Tutsi and Hutus slaughtering each other. It could be nature’s way of redressing the imbalance between people and resources."Although in India, the low per capita availibility of natural and economic resources has not resulted in

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1141680247919553412006-03-06T12:47:00.000-08:002006-03-06T14:26:24.630-08:00

A US-India nuclear agreement was completed during George Bush visit to India. Loosely speaking, according to the terms of this deal (which needs to be approved by the US Congress), the US will supply technology and uranium to India in exchange for the promise that India will designate 14 of its 22 nuclear sites as civilian and open to inspection. This deal has been analyzed from a motley of

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1140798651079592872006-02-24T08:30:00.000-08:002006-02-24T10:43:08.340-08:00

I just read an article (in Outlook http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20060227&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=1) about the grave state of sex ratios in Punjab. Punjab has one of the worst child sex ratios in the country (along with states like Himachal, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat). In 2003, it was 776 girls to 1000 boys (declined from 793:1000 in 2001). These kinds of

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1140798613768688162006-02-24T08:29:00.000-08:002006-02-24T10:43:00.363-08:00

I plan to use this space to write about and express opinions on various economic facets of India and/or relating to India. I hope you get a chance to read, mull over and comment on these thoughts.

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21595666.post-1138388712428526632006-01-27T10:39:00.000-08:002006-01-27T13:44:26.693-08:00

With Budget season upon us, members of the Left in parliament have made demands to increase the security transaction tax. When introduced, the rate was .15% on a delivery-based transaction and .015% on a non-delivery-based transaction. The Left wants to increase the tax on non-delivery-based transactions to .1%. People who support the tax argue that not only is this a good source of revenue for

Ishanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384691750936311956noreply@blogger.com0