India
needs a modern finance ministry equipped to meet macroeconomic
challenges by Shaji Vikraman in the Economic
Times. Editorials in
Mint,
Wall
Street Journal.
A
Reuters story about fat policemen in Pakistan makes me think
about similar questions in India. A dataset of the BMI of
policemen would be an interesting one.
T. N. Ninan
looks back at the dark days of 1975, and the lethality of bad laws
and bad
law-making. [Also
see my writing on this from 2007; but I'm not that optimistic today].
Manas
Chakravarty, in Mint, reminds us that State Domestic
Product (SDP) data is highly suspect. SDP sits alongside NSSO,
ASI, IIP, quarterly GDP,
etc. as pillars
of the Indian statistical system that inspire profound
mistrust. Another
bloomer. In the research community, we should be wary of
garbage-in-garbage-out projects which stand on these datasets.
Mobis
Philipose in Mint on clearing corporations.
The Survey of India needs
to learn
how maps are made in today's world. It must either match these
capabilities, or contract-out the production
of these
critical public goods to these firms.
The IGIDR Emerging Markets Finance
conference: 2011
program, 2012
call for papers.
Rohit
Viswanath in Mint on RBI reforms.
Paul
Geitner in the New York Times makes us think about the
Right to Vacation Act.
We in India are mostly finished with the business of RBI trading in
the currency market
(link). It
was still rather interesting to read Michael Bordo, Owen F. Humpage
and Anna J. Schwartz
(R.I.P.), writing
on voxEU about the experience of the US, Japan, China and
Switzerland on currency trading by the central bank, and the
impossible trinity.
In recent decades, one of the troubling features of the world has
been the retardation of innovation and competition that has been
caused by patents in the field of computer technology. One of the
tallest figures in law and economics, Richard Posner, has written a
devastating
ruling which may help precipitate a fresh look at the way patent
litigation will go. Deeper reform requires rewriting laws, but
judge-made law can help greatly in alleviating the pain. When will
we get judges of this quality in India?
Fairly frightening news is coming out of China. We are all long
China; if China should go bad, it will plunge the whole world into a
recession.
Righter in the Times Literary Supplement.
Bradsher says, in the New York Times, that there are fresh
concerns about a bizarre scale of manipulation of official statistics,
which makes you wonder if the communist party actually believes its
own press releases, and is actually flying blind. They are famed for
intra-party democracy and debate, but how can that happen without
accurate information? And,
Tindale describes the incredible levels of stress in that system,
which makes India's `functioning anarchy' seem almost idyllic in
comparison. Parts of this made me wonder. E.g. he says: the richest
70 members of the government have a net worth of $89.8 billion, an
average of over $1B each. This compares to $7.5 billion for the 660
for the US government, an average of $11M each.. How would we
fare, in comparison?
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