tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-343850442026-03-28T04:54:11.828+05:30Economics – Politics – Society – History – Culture – Religion – PhilosophyIndianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.comBlogger578125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-87115297927622146962026-03-18T22:00:00.006+05:302026-03-21T19:22:06.638+05:30

REVIEWDhurandhar: The Revenge does not have part one's perfection. But what it lacks in perfection, it makes up in fun. So with all its imperfections, it is still one hell of a ride.If Aditya Dhar had given as much as care to part two's script as he had given to part one's script, then part two would have been an all-time great movie (like part one) and the duology would have been an all-time

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-91179975345560068762026-03-15T16:00:00.008+05:302026-03-15T17:48:21.912+05:30

2011 Nobel Economics Prize winner Christopher Sims (who passed away yesterday) revolutionised macroeconomics by developing the Vector Auto Regression (VAR) model and impulse-response analysis.Till the 1970s, macroeconomic analysis involved taking a large system of equations built around a Keynesian macroeconomic model and statistically estimating them. The estimated system was then used to:1.

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-51281346792278587872026-02-01T13:00:00.001+05:302026-02-01T13:12:34.633+05:30

BUDGET 2026-27 ANALYSIS# Fiscal deficit is decreasing from 4.4% of GDP (2025-26) to 4.3% (2026-27) - a decrease of 0.1% points. This is good.# Nominal GDP is estimated to grow/increase in 2026-27 by 10%.The 4 Budget components are changing from 2025-26 to 2026-27 like this:1. Revenue Receipts (good income - ie, taxes)This is increasing by 7.2% - which is less than the GDP growth rate (10%). This

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-77382268821510338082025-12-20T12:00:00.002+05:302025-12-20T12:01:58.171+05:30

Best Movies Of 20251. Kantara: Chapter 12. Dhurandhar3. Phule4. 120 Bahadur5. Haq6. Tanvi The Great7. F18. Complete Unknown9. Avatar: Fire And Ash10. Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-85944157760913819542025-12-06T09:00:00.001+05:302025-12-31T15:15:21.239+05:30

MOVIE REVIEWHow do you kill a pack of wolves? You send a tiger disguised as a wolf into the wolves' den - and kill them one by one. 'Dhurandhar' is the story of an Indian spy who infiltrates Pakistan's network of mafia gangs, intelligence agencies and terrorist groups - and gives them a dose of their own medicine.An excellent action-thriller. A grand epic that must be seen on the big screen. A

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-7247981425180790052025-10-25T18:00:00.005+05:302025-10-25T18:45:11.643+05:30

1. Which is the most important problem in economics? Poverty.2. What is the solution for poverty? Job creation.3. What leads to job creation? Economic growth.4. What else leads to job creation? Exports.5. What more leads to job creation? Government policy.Now:a) Poverty is studied by Development Economics.b) Job creation is studied by Labour Economics.c) Growth is studied by Macroeconomics.d)

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-54005334062664092332025-10-15T09:00:00.013+05:302025-10-15T09:59:57.538+05:30

How does economic growth happen due to creative destruction? Must the government subsidise the R&D (research & development) of private companies? This year's (2025) Nobel Economics Prize winners Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt answered these questions in their 1992 Econometrica paper 'A Model Of Growth Through Creative Destruction' (17k+ citations). They derived the equations for the

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-10513054669474012792025-04-25T18:00:00.002+05:302025-04-25T19:15:13.062+05:30

'PHULE' MOVIE REVIEWAn excellent movie about Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule - the great social reformers who uplifted lower-castes and rehabilitated widows in the 1800s. They started schools for lower-caste children (especially girls) and opened shelters for widows. They ignited a revolution in Poona that spread to the whole country. Maharaja Sayaji Rao Gaekwad of Baroda rightly conferred

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-46923850968955843922025-04-01T09:00:00.005+05:302025-04-04T20:02:34.218+05:30

In 2016, two of Donald Trump's economic advisers wrote a paper titled 'Scoring the Trump Economic Plan'. They were Peter Navarro (an economics professor with a PhD from Harvard) and Wilbur Ross (a businessman). Today, Peter Navarro is Donald Trump's senior trade adviser and Wilbur Ross is America's Commerce Secretary (trade minister).In it, they wrote:"The growth in any nation's gross domestic

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-61929248639204210152025-03-28T09:00:00.012+05:302025-03-28T09:54:13.126+05:30

The graph shows the trade-to-GDP ratio* versus the logarithm of GDP for 184 countries**. It shows a slight decreasing relationship between the two - as GDP increases, the trade-to-GDP ratio decreases slightly. India is shown by the red dot - and it is below the trendline. That is - its trade-to-GDP ratio (at 45%) is below what it should be as per this relationship (which is 70%). So there is a

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-57670368469850304282025-03-27T09:00:00.003+05:302025-03-27T09:52:16.905+05:30

THE EFFECT OF TRADE ON GROWTHTotal trade (exports + imports) increases growth. Empirical research has proved this conclusively. But there is no theoretical model that shows this. This is because trade does not increase growth directly - but indirectly. And this indirect relationship between trade and growth is shown by two sets of models: growth models and trade models.1. Growth models like Romer

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-34537701255821242272025-03-24T13:00:00.003+05:302025-03-24T13:03:29.651+05:30

WHY TRADE IS GOOD (BOTH EXPORTS AND IMPORTS)GDP is given by the basic equation:Y = C + I + G + X - Mor Y = C + I + G + NXwhere NX = X - MThese equations *seem* to say that GDP consists of net exports (or trade surplus) and hence:1. Exports are good2. Imports are bad3. Trade surplus is good4. Trade deficit is bad1 is correct and 3 is partially correct. But 2 and 4 are fallacies. They are bad in

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-1752448567389503662025-02-18T17:00:00.003+05:302025-02-18T21:10:07.839+05:30

INDIAN ECONOMY: OCT-DEC 2024The urban employment data has just come out for Oct-Dec 2024. I look at 3 indicators of employment:1. Worker Population Ratio (WPR)2. % of workers in industry and services3. % of regular wage/salaried workersI make two comparisons - I compare Oct-Dec 2024 with:a) Oct-Dec 2023 (the same quarter of the previous year)b) Oct-Dec 2019 (the last normal/pre-Covid Oct-Dec

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-12311314312966001822025-02-01T13:00:00.007+05:302025-02-01T21:25:11.818+05:30

INDIA BUDGET 2025-26: ANALYSIS# Fiscal deficit is decreasing from 4.8% of GDP (2024-25) to 4.4% (2025-26) - a decrease of 0.4% points. This is good.# Nominal GDP is estimated to grow/increase in 2025-26 by 10.1%.The 4 Budget components are changing from 2024-25 to 2025-26 like this:1. Revenue Receipts (good income - ie, taxes)This is increasing by 11.1% - which is more than the GDP growth rate (

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-31277494392328944522025-01-31T09:00:00.001+05:302025-01-31T10:20:30.088+05:30

HOW TO ANALYSE/EVALUATE INDIA'S BUDGET(A framework to analyse/evaluate the Budget)A. The Budget has 2 flows of money:1. Inflow (Income) is called 'Receipts'.2. Outflow (Spending) is called 'Expenditure'.B. The Budget has 2 types of accounts:1. Short-term transactions (that do not create assets/liabilities) go into the 'Revenue Account'.2. Long-term transactions (that create assets/liabilities) go

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-59718055380421876452024-12-30T09:00:00.003+05:302024-12-30T09:55:09.215+05:30

How many informal sector workers are there in India? Two different surveys are giving two very different numbers. The Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) says it is 12 crore. But the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) says it is 20 crore!ASUSE explicitly gives this number. PLFS does not explicitly give this number - but we can calculate it as:Number of informal workers = %

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-91942971469138197812024-12-29T09:00:00.001+05:302024-12-29T12:51:06.181+05:30

BEST MOVIES OF 20241. Phulwanti2. Main Atal Hoon3. Article 3704. Razakar5. Gladiator 26. Kingdom Of Planet Of Apes7. Alien: Romulus

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-87469530635458563962024-12-19T09:00:00.003+05:302024-12-19T11:30:30.953+05:30

Last week the November inflation number came out at 5.5% - below the upper limit (6%) of the inflation target. So the media is saying that RBI must cut the interest rate. Is this view correct?The RBI's Bulletin in July said that India's neutral/natural interest rate is around 1.5-2%. What does 'neutral/natural interest rate' mean? The top table illustrates this:a) When the real interest rate is

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-21728749019039296282024-12-16T09:00:00.001+05:302024-12-16T09:55:11.862+05:30

The internet has many posts criticising the low salaries for:1. Assistant Professors (like ₹ 35,000/month) in many colleges and universities2. Fresh engineers (like ₹ 3 lakh/year) in companies like TCS, Wipro and InfosysWage is the price of labour. And the most fundamental law of economics is that all prices are decided by demand and supply. High demand or/and low supply leads to a high price/

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-91979785413981837192024-11-20T09:00:00.022+05:302024-11-21T10:35:20.231+05:30

WHY DID THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION HAPPEN IN EUROPE – AND NOT INDIA OR CHINA?How did the West become rich? Why did the Industrial Revolution happen in Europe - even though historically, India and China were more advanced in science? This is the biggest question in economic history. Economic historian Eric Jones answered this question in his book 'The European Miracle' (1981). The ultimate

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-37174256146017135262024-11-04T19:00:00.003+05:302024-11-04T19:50:06.686+05:30

DHARMONOMICS: DHARMA AND ECONOMICSLast month Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson won the Nobel Economics Prize for showing how institutions produce economic growth. In particular, they have shown the importance of 3 institutions:1. Law and order 2. Enforcement of contacts3. Protection of property rights In ancient Indian philosophy, the concept of Dharma (order/morality)

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-22286762529284049612024-10-13T10:00:00.001+05:302024-10-13T10:10:21.858+05:30

'PHULWANTI' MOVIE REVIEWBased on the famous novel (of the same name) by the great Marathi writer Babasaheb Purandare, 'Phulwanti' is a beautiful meditation on the relationship between knowledge and the scholar (and art and the artist) - and also the real meaning of love. The script, direction, acting, set design, costume design, music and choreography are all top-notch. The movie has English

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-1116702410696111942024-10-08T18:00:00.001+05:302024-10-08T18:45:10.904+05:30

WHY GOVERNMENT MUST BE SMALLWhat should be the size of the government? Should it be big or small? Liberals want a big government that provides a lot of generous welfare schemes to as many people as possible. Conservatives want a small government that only performs its core functions of maintaining law & order and providing public goods (because a big government has to be funded by high taxes

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-11563830107961180642024-09-20T21:00:00.003+05:302024-09-20T21:50:13.590+05:30

WORKING HOURS, STRESS AND SALARY IN INDIA(The Dichotomy Of The Indian Economy)Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant at Ernst & Young, sadly died in July due to overwork and stress. Many people are asking: "Why didn't she quit?". Well, this question applies not just to her but to almost all middle-class Indians in metropolitan cities - who are doing high-stress jobs.

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34385044.post-28871375387754727562024-09-17T09:00:00.001+05:302024-09-17T09:50:07.167+05:30

WHY SOCIALISM IS ILLOGICAL AND UNNATURAL(The Logical Mistakes Behind The Conception Of Socialism)Around 1800, the Industrial Revolution started in Britain. It consisted of two major changes:1. The 3 factors of production are land, labour and capital. During the Agricultural Age, the most important factor of production was land. With the Industrial Revolution, capital (ie, machines/factories)

Indianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01203108307477539359noreply@blogger.com0