The recruitment of the IMF MD has turned into quite a controversy. For an interesting set of views, see this page on the website of The Economist. In a remarkable development, the EDs of India, China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa came out with a clear joint statement on the silliness that is afoot.There are four perspectives on this question which are worth noting: There is an obvious gap between the power structure at the IMF, which reflects the structure of the world economy after the Second World War, as compared with the present reality....
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Monday, 23 May 2011
Opportunities in the Macro/Finance Group at NIPFP
Posted on 03:09 by Unknown
The Macro/Finance Group at NIPFP has opportunities in several roles.EconomistsWe require individuals with a Ph.D. in economics or finance, with an interest in original research in our fields. These would be contractual appointments for a period of one or two years. One or more publications in international journals would be helpful, as would be the ability to carry research from inception all the way to publication.Policy research associatesWe require people who can participate in large complex research projects in the field of public policy. As...
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Interesting readings
Posted on 21:33 by Unknown
What is right about the CPI(M), by Prabhat Patnaik, in the Telegraph (16 September 2010).Thomas E. Ricks (in Foreign Policy) and Lawrence Wright (in New Yorker) on Pakistan.C. Rangarajan on the debate about the debt management office and about inflation targeting (the latter is an interview with Tamal Bandyopadhyay).Saurabh Mishra, Susanna Lundstrom and Rahul Anand have a fascinating piece on the sophistication of India's service exports. Many people suffer from what I call `the widget illusion', where somehow it is good to...
Slamming the accelerator while hitting the brakes
Posted on 01:24 by Unknown
The #1 problem of Indian macroeconomic policy is the inflation crisis. From February 2006 onwards, in every single month, inflation has exceeded the target zone of four to five per cent. I'm measuring inflation as the year-on-year change of the CPI-IW. The latter is the best measure of the overall price level in India today.This macroeconomic instability is damaging the ability of economic agents to plan and invest for the future, because it's hard to envision interest rates and prices when faced with such high uncertainty. High inflation thus...
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Books that should be read before starting a Ph.D. in economics
Posted on 03:26 by Unknown
Suppose a young person is going to start a Ph.D. in economics. What essential readings would you recommend prior to this?In my opinion, the Ph.D. in economics involves a heavy emphasis on tools. But the story isn't told, about why we are building these tools. The intuition isn't built, about the world out there that we seek to model. I always joke that economics students who are clueless about reality are like a child studying projectile motion without having ever thrown something into the air.So I thought it's useful to pick a set of books that...
Sunday, 15 May 2011
A new low for Indian economic policy
Posted on 21:41 by Unknown
Strange things in the appointments process: 16 May: Deepshikha Sikarwar has a story in the Economic Times today titled I-T dept seeks former SEBI chairman CB Bhave's tax returns details. 25 April: Shaji Vikraman had a front page story in the Economic Times about how Bhave's team at SEBI was being dispersed. And, Mobis Philipose on these issues in Mint, and Sahad PV on VCCircle. 23 April: P. Vaidyanathan Iyer had a front page story in the Indian Express on how C. B. Bhave was removed. 18 April: Paranjoy Guha Thakurta on the problems of...
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Solving the problem of black money in real estate
Posted on 01:01 by Unknown
by a href="http://ajayshahblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/author-shubho-roy.html">ShubhoRoy and Pratik Datta./aManmohan Singh as finance minister killed off smuggling, by eliminating customs duties. Black money in the real estate sector a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/146794/lower-stamp-duties-can-check.html">recently attracted his attention. He suggested lowering of stamp duties to check the flow of black money in this sector. But will this solve the problem of black money? And how will the State compensate for the loss of...
Author: Pratik Datta
Posted on 00:52 by Unknown
Sunshine in the court room, 4 April 2013.The genesis of India's 'basic structure' doctrine, 23 April 2012.Solving the problem of black money in real estate, 5 May 2011. Reliance ADAG consent order, 18 February 2011. Transactions between banks in bad assets: An interesting legal drama, 7 October 20...
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Succession problems in Indian firms
Posted on 11:16 by Unknown
Democracies are more stableAutocratic countries often appear to have a clean and stable political system. A government is clearly in charge. Businessmen like to deal with such a government, because you can go into a room with a powerful person and walk out holding a deal. You can do business with them.Democracies, in contrast, are messy. The essence of a democracy is the dispersion of power. When power is dispersed between many individuals and institutions, decision making is slow and messy.Differences are visible in public. A businessman finds...
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