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Indianomix: Making Sense of Modern India
Why does the stock exchange dip during a lunar eclipse? why don't cars with safety features lead to fewer injuries? why did nehru ignore the chinese threat in the lead-up to the 1962 war? why is it that a stranger might risk his life to save yours on one day and a street full of passers-by might casually watch you bleed to death on another? why did pollsters wrongly predict a bjp victory in 2004 and what was the real reason for their defeat and why is india's independence day not, in fact, on the day on which it's celebrated? in pithy, sparkling, bite-sized chapters, economists vivek dehejia and rupa subramanya tackle these seeming mysteries and unearth the real reasons why 'we are like this only'. The answers are entertaining and surprising at every turn and reveal a picture of modern india as never seen before.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
December 17, 2012
A Good Freakonomics-Style Book on India Will Have to Wait
The trend, the craze, the fashion, that Freakonomics and The Undercover Economist sparked makes it way to an Indian context with this book, but the effects are less than spectacular. A plethora of problems mar what could have been an otherwise successful pop-economics-and-behavioral-psychology book.
Applying economics and blending it with research gleamed from the still nascent field of behavioral economics - in itself a blend of behavioral psychology and economics - to everyday topics can yield fascinating insights that do a better job of explaining how people behave than traditional models that rely on the mythical "rational economic person". It would be an understatement to make the case that we need different, and more rational, models of behavior in the Indian context. As India changes - socially, economically, and politically - providing models of human behavior, in both individual and collective contexts, can help everyone better understand, explain, and perhaps correct undesirable orthodoxy in though.
This book attempts to do just that, but is stymied by several, several factors. When explaining economic concepts, it tends to fall over in talking down to the reader. There is a plethora of phrases like "what economists call a...", "economists are used to ..." - liable to give the reader the impression that he is not supposed to be intelligent enough to know these concepts. When introducing behavioral economics, it sprays basic concepts all over the book, making it very, very difficult for someone who has not already some knowledge of the topic to truly grasp the profoundness of the work of people like Kahnemann and Tversky. When applying these models to Indian problems and behaviors, the arguments put forth are never quite fully fleshed out. Some explanations are simply dropped midway, abruptly. Some are never carried to some logical conclusion. And some are plain wrong. Add to this prose that at times leaves you gasping for semantic clarity, and the result is a miasma of confusion and a picture that never reveals itself.
The trend, the craze, the fashion, that Freakonomics and The Undercover Economist sparked makes it way to an Indian context with this book, but the effects are less than spectacular. A plethora of problems mar what could have been an otherwise successful pop-economics-and-behavioral-psychology book.
Applying economics and blending it with research gleamed from the still nascent field of behavioral economics - in itself a blend of behavioral psychology and economics - to everyday topics can yield fascinating insights that do a better job of explaining how people behave than traditional models that rely on the mythical "rational economic person". It would be an understatement to make the case that we need different, and more rational, models of behavior in the Indian context. As India changes - socially, economically, and politically - providing models of human behavior, in both individual and collective contexts, can help everyone better understand, explain, and perhaps correct undesirable orthodoxy in though.
This book attempts to do just that, but is stymied by several, several factors. When explaining economic concepts, it tends to fall over in talking down to the reader. There is a plethora of phrases like "what economists call a...", "economists are used to ..." - liable to give the reader the impression that he is not supposed to be intelligent enough to know these concepts. When introducing behavioral economics, it sprays basic concepts all over the book, making it very, very difficult for someone who has not already some knowledge of the topic to truly grasp the profoundness of the work of people like Kahnemann and Tversky. When applying these models to Indian problems and behaviors, the arguments put forth are never quite fully fleshed out. Some explanations are simply dropped midway, abruptly. Some are never carried to some logical conclusion. And some are plain wrong. Add to this prose that at times leaves you gasping for semantic clarity, and the result is a miasma of confusion and a picture that never reveals itself.
December 12, 2013
This is not your typical economics book. The authors have picked up various observations from our daily lives and tried to explain why these happen or what would be better. Then justifying it using statistics ad various principles is what makes the read interesting. So why are rail crossing accidents rising and what can be done to reduce them, why making wearing seat belts in India mandatory has not reduced road accidents. Or how expert opinions are not better than a monkey throwing darts on options etc. Overall, it is a light interesting read.
February 2, 2013
By Vivek Dehejia and Rupa Subramania. Grade: B+
Indianomix – Making Sense of Modern India is a great read for those who are inquisitive and want to understand the application of economics in the real world. The book revolves around everyday questions and tries to answer “why things happen the way they do?” in a non-conventional style. While scanning various events under an economist’s lens, both the authors give a fresh perspective to everyday thinking and uncover some very fascinating facts.
The book encapsulates a number of research papers prepared by economists around the world and use them to answer some very interesting questions.
“Why does the stock exchange dip during a lunar eclipse? Why dont cars with safety features lead to fewer injuries? Why did Nehru ignore the Chinese threat in the lead-up to the 1962 war? Why is it that a stranger might risk his life to save yours on one day, and a street full of passers-by might casually watch you bleed to death on another? Why did pollsters wrongly predict a BJP victory in 2004, and what was the real reason for their defeat? And why is Indias Independence Day not, in fact, on the day on which it is celebrated?
Indianomix: Making Sense Of Modern India
In pithy, sparkling, bite-sized chapters, economists Vivek Dehejia and Rupa Subramanya tackle these seeming mysteries and unearth the real reasons why we are like this only. The answers are entertaining and surprising at every turn, and reveal a picture of modern India as never seen before.”
The book cover requires a special mention; it is groovy and engaging which attracts your attention instantly, but the cover picture perplexed me. I spent endless minutes correlating it to the title. But the good was that at least I started the book on a curious note.
The book starts with an introduction on how economics can be applied in the real world problems, how problems can be viewed from different angle and further explains as to how different complex concepts work behind a seemingly simple problem. Each chapter talks about a number of practical problems interwoven together under a broad framework which helps you connect the dots and facilitates comprehension of the whole concept. The authors largely follow a set pattern in each chapter wherein a set of problems is introduced, followed by explanation of a concept and then problems are unlocked miraculously one by one.
The book moves on from one concept to another in no time, making the reading experience a delight. I, for one, have been having waiting for such a book on the nascent topic of behaviourial economics, after the immense success of Freakonomics.
“When you dig below the apparent chaos of India, and get to the deeper mechanisms hidden below the confusing patterns on top, India makes sense after all.”
Indianomix does not focus exclusively on any one field and has a range of topics but the theme that binds all the topics is that data and reasoning should be given prominence over popular belief. This is the first India-centric book which makes this point and hence is a must read for all.
Originally reviewed at www.vaultofbooks.com
Indianomix – Making Sense of Modern India is a great read for those who are inquisitive and want to understand the application of economics in the real world. The book revolves around everyday questions and tries to answer “why things happen the way they do?” in a non-conventional style. While scanning various events under an economist’s lens, both the authors give a fresh perspective to everyday thinking and uncover some very fascinating facts.
The book encapsulates a number of research papers prepared by economists around the world and use them to answer some very interesting questions.
“Why does the stock exchange dip during a lunar eclipse? Why dont cars with safety features lead to fewer injuries? Why did Nehru ignore the Chinese threat in the lead-up to the 1962 war? Why is it that a stranger might risk his life to save yours on one day, and a street full of passers-by might casually watch you bleed to death on another? Why did pollsters wrongly predict a BJP victory in 2004, and what was the real reason for their defeat? And why is Indias Independence Day not, in fact, on the day on which it is celebrated?
Indianomix: Making Sense Of Modern India
In pithy, sparkling, bite-sized chapters, economists Vivek Dehejia and Rupa Subramanya tackle these seeming mysteries and unearth the real reasons why we are like this only. The answers are entertaining and surprising at every turn, and reveal a picture of modern India as never seen before.”
The book cover requires a special mention; it is groovy and engaging which attracts your attention instantly, but the cover picture perplexed me. I spent endless minutes correlating it to the title. But the good was that at least I started the book on a curious note.
The book starts with an introduction on how economics can be applied in the real world problems, how problems can be viewed from different angle and further explains as to how different complex concepts work behind a seemingly simple problem. Each chapter talks about a number of practical problems interwoven together under a broad framework which helps you connect the dots and facilitates comprehension of the whole concept. The authors largely follow a set pattern in each chapter wherein a set of problems is introduced, followed by explanation of a concept and then problems are unlocked miraculously one by one.
The book moves on from one concept to another in no time, making the reading experience a delight. I, for one, have been having waiting for such a book on the nascent topic of behaviourial economics, after the immense success of Freakonomics.
“When you dig below the apparent chaos of India, and get to the deeper mechanisms hidden below the confusing patterns on top, India makes sense after all.”
Indianomix does not focus exclusively on any one field and has a range of topics but the theme that binds all the topics is that data and reasoning should be given prominence over popular belief. This is the first India-centric book which makes this point and hence is a must read for all.
Originally reviewed at www.vaultofbooks.com
October 14, 2014
The authors have attempted to use economic theory to assess several social phenomena in India and have managed to do it in a very engaging and informative manner. The beauty of the book lies in the way they manage to challenge several oft repeated statistics on India and expose them for the dubious claims that they really are.
An added bonus lies in the evident libertarian bent of view of the authors which leads them to challenge the activist clique on multiple occasions (wouldn't come as a surprise to someone who follows them on twitter:)).
All in all a must read if you are interested in Indian behavioral patterns.
An added bonus lies in the evident libertarian bent of view of the authors which leads them to challenge the activist clique on multiple occasions (wouldn't come as a surprise to someone who follows them on twitter:)).
All in all a must read if you are interested in Indian behavioral patterns.
June 19, 2013
Could not figure out the connection between the title / subtitle and what was inside the book: http://www.anureviews.com/indianomix-...
September 30, 2017
A Freakonomics style book that explains various events that occurred in India. It doesn't start off very strong. However it gets quite interesting after the first 50 pages or so.
I feel the authors have digressed quite a bit from what the theme of the book was supposed to be. And they do not present very convincing evidence in some cases. A lot of the reasoning given is based on research made by other prominent people such as Richard Dawkins(the Selfish gene) or Daniel Kahneman, and not on their work or field research. I did not find the Behavioral Economics portion of the book very convincing or interesting to be honest.
One theme that the authors do explain very well with ample examples is how "expert" surveys ironically are not very accurate. I think especially with the recent "surprise" victory in elections across the world ( cough, the US) or Brexit, where the polls in fact predicted otherwise, there has been new awakening to this fact. The authors explain how the surverys conducted by worldwide experts on various factors such as women safety, sex ratio, health crisis or epidemics, are more often than not skewed. They defend India's position very well. This line especially resonated well with me - "Opinion of experts should be taken with a grain of salt especially when packaged in statistics and snazzy looking tables and charts."
Another interesting bit explained is the comparitive growth of various economies in the world. Here, unfortunately, I believe the writers have tried to cover too many things and therefore ended not covering much of anything in depth. However, I did get a glimpse of many new ideas that I can research more on. Such as the role of "benelovent dictatorship" or authoritarian rule in the growth of most rich economies that we know of today, be it the US, UK, South Korea, Japan, etc.
Overall it is a very interesting short read. Does not give too much insight into anything. But thought provoking nevertheless. India is difficult country to make sense of. And I appreciate the attempt made.
I feel the authors have digressed quite a bit from what the theme of the book was supposed to be. And they do not present very convincing evidence in some cases. A lot of the reasoning given is based on research made by other prominent people such as Richard Dawkins(the Selfish gene) or Daniel Kahneman, and not on their work or field research. I did not find the Behavioral Economics portion of the book very convincing or interesting to be honest.
One theme that the authors do explain very well with ample examples is how "expert" surveys ironically are not very accurate. I think especially with the recent "surprise" victory in elections across the world ( cough, the US) or Brexit, where the polls in fact predicted otherwise, there has been new awakening to this fact. The authors explain how the surverys conducted by worldwide experts on various factors such as women safety, sex ratio, health crisis or epidemics, are more often than not skewed. They defend India's position very well. This line especially resonated well with me - "Opinion of experts should be taken with a grain of salt especially when packaged in statistics and snazzy looking tables and charts."
Another interesting bit explained is the comparitive growth of various economies in the world. Here, unfortunately, I believe the writers have tried to cover too many things and therefore ended not covering much of anything in depth. However, I did get a glimpse of many new ideas that I can research more on. Such as the role of "benelovent dictatorship" or authoritarian rule in the growth of most rich economies that we know of today, be it the US, UK, South Korea, Japan, etc.
Overall it is a very interesting short read. Does not give too much insight into anything. But thought provoking nevertheless. India is difficult country to make sense of. And I appreciate the attempt made.
October 8, 2019
I am unsure why they decided to name it making sense of modern India. There was sufficient references to name 'making sense of old so-called-indian beliefs'
Reference of 'gandhi' dynasty, BJP considered as development oriented party, Patel's reference, Nehru's mistake.. "Engeyo ketta kuralgal"..
The author is sticking to the north-indian hindu narrative. Assumption of Deepavali, Some comparison of karthikeya-kubera, being indian meaning - switching to vegetarian food.. sabbbaaaa..
The NGO episode in helping hand episode is impressive. Except that i couldn't find anything enlightening.
Reference of 'gandhi' dynasty, BJP considered as development oriented party, Patel's reference, Nehru's mistake.. "Engeyo ketta kuralgal"..
The author is sticking to the north-indian hindu narrative. Assumption of Deepavali, Some comparison of karthikeya-kubera, being indian meaning - switching to vegetarian food.. sabbbaaaa..
The NGO episode in helping hand episode is impressive. Except that i couldn't find anything enlightening.
June 14, 2018
Truly fascinating read. Anyone who wants to understand India in a wholesome way, with its past, present and future, with its mythology and technology, with its innocence and intelligence, in one book, then this is the book for you. Every country is complex in its own way and so we must understand the underlying nuances before passing judgement on its governance, people, their lifestyle and beliefs. This book in a very interesting and quirky yet in completely valid manner(with authentic references), explains India as never before.
Read
January 13, 2020A monkey blindfolded shooting at a dart has chances of being more accurate than experts predicting polls. - the gist of the book..data represented via statistics across different categories is often wrong because either it is subjected to certain psychological biases or the sampling of the data is incorrect. Trust your common sense and don't fall for these misleading stats and data.
Devdutt Pattnaik - chief belief officer of the future groups suggest that every belief fundamentally is irrational at its root. Hence, wisdom from the so-called scientific facts and wisdom from the mythology holds equal importance for him.
Devdutt Pattnaik - chief belief officer of the future groups suggest that every belief fundamentally is irrational at its root. Hence, wisdom from the so-called scientific facts and wisdom from the mythology holds equal importance for him.
May 5, 2017
A very well researched and well written book. An eye opener in the sense that it shows us how misleading the stats can be sometimes. the fact that one needs to more rationally analyse the data and the method of collection to understand the stats in better way. what may look very evident may not be the reality. More so for India. I was searching for more books by the authors but couldn't find one. If any one can help me with more such books.
December 15, 2019
The book has several interesting freakonomics kind of insights for the Indian audience. The book covers a lot of different ground but at a very top level. The authors share interesting learnings from various fields of economics/psychology and how these are getting enacted in public policy. Would recommend if you are a public policy/economics wonk.
August 19, 2018
Not recommended. I usually finish almost every book I pick up but this somehow I could not continue.
The stats are boring, the writing is boring - it doesnt excite you at all.
Do not pick this one - even for serious non-fic readers this should be avoided.
The stats are boring, the writing is boring - it doesnt excite you at all.
Do not pick this one - even for serious non-fic readers this should be avoided.
August 16, 2017
Readability - Low
Insights -Low
Engagement - Low
No insights received from this book. Play of random numbers.
Insights -Low
Engagement - Low
No insights received from this book. Play of random numbers.
July 5, 2018
Poor man's Freakanomix
December 15, 2018
An interesting read about the behavior of Indian societies, and the big picture behind surprising election results, medical epidemics, and the safety and security of its people.
July 2, 2019
"Indianomix" is the attempt of two economists to rewrite Freakonomics from an Indian perspective. Alas, the attempt is flawed and doesn't deliver the impact that was expected given the title.
By itself, the book is quite good, covering diverse topics like the issue of missing women in India, the surprising negative negative effect of increased safety measures in automobiles, effects of eclipses on stock exchanges worldwide, and the negative biases prevalent in news articles.
All these topics are covered well with a lot of examples and backed by the research of many scholars. They make readers think about the wisdom of conventional thinking when it comes to issues with far-reaching effects, making it worth the while to read it.
However, where the book fails is in its exploration of its title, "Indianomix". It does not feature anything specifically Indian, despite using examples from India for every topic covered. While reading, I often felt as if the authors wanted to have more stories from India, but failed to find enough relevant ones, leading them to plug the gaps with fillers. Additionally, there is very little, if any, independent research, with most stories being compendiums of research and books published by famous economists across the world.
All in all, this book is good to read if the objective is to find new viewpoints towards various important issues facing us today.
By itself, the book is quite good, covering diverse topics like the issue of missing women in India, the surprising negative negative effect of increased safety measures in automobiles, effects of eclipses on stock exchanges worldwide, and the negative biases prevalent in news articles.
All these topics are covered well with a lot of examples and backed by the research of many scholars. They make readers think about the wisdom of conventional thinking when it comes to issues with far-reaching effects, making it worth the while to read it.
However, where the book fails is in its exploration of its title, "Indianomix". It does not feature anything specifically Indian, despite using examples from India for every topic covered. While reading, I often felt as if the authors wanted to have more stories from India, but failed to find enough relevant ones, leading them to plug the gaps with fillers. Additionally, there is very little, if any, independent research, with most stories being compendiums of research and books published by famous economists across the world.
All in all, this book is good to read if the objective is to find new viewpoints towards various important issues facing us today.
December 25, 2015
The news from India, like India itself, requires us to dig deeper into the story and not stop with the headline
A country four times the size of the United States and as culturally diverse as the continent of Europe deserves no less. I bought the book as soon as I figured someone has done a freaknomics on India. I am happy to say I wasn't disappointed and will be waiting for more from Vivek Dehejia. My only complaint with the book is that it ended abruptly and the last 15-20% is just the (well-researched) citations made by the authors.
Some of the concepts I would want to remember in the Indian context: coordination failure/Indian Stretchable Time; nudges by choice architects to help improve people's choices especially ones that put them at risk; democracies versus benevolent dictatorships; offsetting effects like seat belts causing people to drive rashly and making them more unsafe; superstitions/myths and how it makes good business sense to cater to them; foxes/hedgehogs predicting election results; biases of International reports on India and how and why the numbers don't add up.
A country four times the size of the United States and as culturally diverse as the continent of Europe deserves no less. I bought the book as soon as I figured someone has done a freaknomics on India. I am happy to say I wasn't disappointed and will be waiting for more from Vivek Dehejia. My only complaint with the book is that it ended abruptly and the last 15-20% is just the (well-researched) citations made by the authors.
Some of the concepts I would want to remember in the Indian context: coordination failure/Indian Stretchable Time; nudges by choice architects to help improve people's choices especially ones that put them at risk; democracies versus benevolent dictatorships; offsetting effects like seat belts causing people to drive rashly and making them more unsafe; superstitions/myths and how it makes good business sense to cater to them; foxes/hedgehogs predicting election results; biases of International reports on India and how and why the numbers don't add up.
October 17, 2014
This is a breezy book, leaning on economic analysis of several quintessentially Indian phenomena. From exit poll predictions to why autorickshaws refuse patrons to cricketer debuts, it draws from behavioural economics, sociology and even biology to analyse and tackle these puzzles. I quite liked the sections where it debunked prominent narratives on India's malnutrition rates and how it put India's so-called HIVAIDS endemic in perspective. While some biased conclusions and generalisations could've been avoided, it was a very enjoyable book and well packaged to appeal to an ordinary (non economist) reader.
October 30, 2013
The book is quite an interesting read, with its perfect size font . It is an attempt to derive patterns and insights from what exists around us and what is believed to be true. In this world of perceptions, economic theories have been put to application to validate the facts. However, there are instances in book which do not make much sense and these are the times when the reader can lose his interest. Well for anyone, who is interested to know why Indians behave the way they do supported and linked with recent everyday examples and stats, this book makes a good read.
January 13, 2014
Indianomix is an indian parallel of Freakonomics. It tries to find economic and rational justifications behind specific phenomenons. It also reveals the bias in sampling and judgement which might lead to erroneous results. Some of the examples in this regard is quite exemplary(e.g 2004 Exit polls, Missing Women, House Bubbles and effect of Lunar eclipse in stock performance). Felt that book could have been a bit more data oriented. Still a good book to understand rational reasons of how people behave.
March 15, 2013
What really works for this book is the fact that it uses a mutidisciplinary approach to analyse seemingly "economic problems". It underlines the fact that most economics is in fact very closely linked with sociology and culture. Rather, economic outcomes may even be a result of completely non economic factors.
The blurb says the book is economics as entertainment. Well, only if you are somewhat familiar with the concepts of economics. It isn't "freakonomics".
The blurb says the book is economics as entertainment. Well, only if you are somewhat familiar with the concepts of economics. It isn't "freakonomics".
December 28, 2013
quick read is what gets it 4 stars. Most of the well quoted research studies about India are by foreigners who, after how much ever time of study and stay, can't shrug off the their own cultural influence and miss the nuances of why we, the Indians do the things we do. This is a better view, collection and explanation of things, in that western style, with all the economics, psychology and business mumbo-jumbo.
November 13, 2013
Interesting book, examines a series of issues.
- Why do taxi drivers in India refuse to take passengers?
- Why was Indian independence declared at mid night?
- Why do more accidents happen with improved infrastructure?
This and many other interesting phenomenon are discussed in this book.
- Why do taxi drivers in India refuse to take passengers?
- Why was Indian independence declared at mid night?
- Why do more accidents happen with improved infrastructure?
This and many other interesting phenomenon are discussed in this book.
December 19, 2015
I'm always willing to expound on every good book I read.
This one was mostly disappointing so here goes:
"Breezy book that was completed in a few hours. Very unoriginal. Deviated from stated premise far too easily. Good invocation of behavioural economics but was overtly biased in several aspects."
This one was mostly disappointing so here goes:
"Breezy book that was completed in a few hours. Very unoriginal. Deviated from stated premise far too easily. Good invocation of behavioural economics but was overtly biased in several aspects."
January 4, 2013
Freakonomics style popular behavioral economics applied to Indian situations, however towards the end I found the book rationalizing the wrongs in Indian society, and a lot of concepts were not counter-intuitive at all (which is kind of the objective of a book like this).
August 10, 2013
Good book but with bad editing. Has some good informative stuff. Struggled to focus on the context at times but still a good read. Just skims the important subject of understanding India but a good job all the same. Kept wishing for more professional editing skills though.
December 12, 2014
A set of fun theories about why Indians do what they do, this book applies economic theories to tease out behavioral angles to this complex question. While there can be a gazillion theories to explain Indians, this book at least acknowledged that fact while being a fun and easy read.
January 12, 2016
It´s an interesting read, but I do not see the connection with economics. More of someone´s train of thoughts. But then again I´m not an economist so maybe I´m missing the point. A bit insightful about India though.
December 8, 2017
Though I really don't have deep knowledge of economics, but the book isn't so worthy as commented by many eminent personalities....Topics in it are extravagantly explained by adding the views of many famous economists and researchers...Writers don't tend to explain the answers by their own often...
February 18, 2013
A very entertaining and enlightening read ! I am glad that I read this book.
More details at
http://bookwormsrecos.blogspot.in/201...
More details at
http://bookwormsrecos.blogspot.in/201...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews