Sanjeev Sabhlok's Blog, page 117
June 28, 2018
Why leaders matter MUCH MORE than culture or religion
My FB note: There are books (e.g. by Robert Wilken) that claim that Christianity has something to do with liberty. That this claim is false is clearly seen when we examine the progress of the following countries over the past century. Christianity did nothing to make these countries more free or to create a demand […]
Modi uses my copy of the Emergency newspaper cutting – pretty weird
Modi issued half page ads in newspapers yesterday. Prominently featured in the ad was the scanned copy of the front page of a newspaper of that day that I had kept with me at the end of Class X. I was in Hyderabad when the Emergency was declared. We moved to Jullundur just a few […]
June 26, 2018
The miserable economics education of Indian Administrative Service officials
A so-called economist who doesn’t understand economics can obviously never explain economics to the people. We had professors of economics at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie in 1982-84, who failed to teach the most basic concepts about the market and the price system. That’s because they did not understand these […]
June 25, 2018
Modern economics begins with Hayek, who made the invisible hand visible
Adam Smith identified the invisible hand but had no idea how it works. People like Marx then went off on a complete tangent using the labour theory of value. Menger, Jevons and Walras demolished the labour theory of value in the 1860s and 1870s. They were getting close enough but still did not understand how […]
June 22, 2018
From economics to action – my 1999 draft paper – to be completed one day
While completing my doctoral studies I started writing this paper for potential publication in some academic journal. Due to extreme RSI the paper never got completed. Note that I not only had extreme RSI from around end-1998 due to intensive typing for India Policy Institute, but also had to complete my dissertation by April 1999 […]
Discovery of a brilliant liberal scientist of Indian origin – C.S. Prakash
Due to the accident of his commenting on my TOI agriculture article, I found time to study the work of CS Prakash, and I’m deeply impressed. I wonder how I missed getting to know about him and his work till now. I suppose I’ve paid more attention to economists of Indian origin than to scientists […]
June 21, 2018
Looking for serious money to support a full-fledged training institute for SBP
The RSS took decades of “prachar” to spread its message to the people. Our party’s ideology is entirely different but we should probably follow the same long-term strategy to create an umbrella of paid pracharaks across the length and breadth of India. I am now looking for financial support and land to establish a training […]
June 20, 2018
My next planned TOI articles on behalf of SBP
After five articles in TOI I’m now planning a few more. My plan, in chronological order: a) To send by mid-August: On mining reform b) To send by mid-November: On education reform c) To send by mid-February 2019: On water reform d) To send by mid-May 2019: On urban planning reform e) To send by […]
Response to comments on my TOI agriculture article
I have compiled below some comments on my agriculture article. And a brief response, as appropriate, in blue. Very few sensible people in India, as these comments show. ===SOURCE TIMES OF INDIA == Raghavan Srinivasan: I agree with the author that the Government must be kept off from agriculture. Farming if done well will not need […]
How India’s senior most IAS officers lack even the basic knowledge of incentives
I’m avoiding India and trying to focus on some writing, but once in a while I might still make a comment or two about the mess that is India. In this video, recorded yesterday, I outline my experience with some senior IAS officers who continue to display deep-rooted ignorance about the role incentives play in society. No wonder […]
