Posts

Showing posts with the label India

Decision Making as Output and Bounded Rationality

-
  The classical economics theories proceed on the assumption of rational agents. Rationality implies the economic agents undertake actions or exercise choices based on the cost-benefit analysis they undertake. The assumption further posits that there exists no information asymmetry and thus the agent is aware of all the costs and benefits associated with the choice he or she has exercised. The behavioral school contested the decision stating the decisions in practice are often irrational. Implied there is a continuous departure from rationality. Rationality in the views of the behavioral school is more an exception to the norm rather a rule. The past posts have discussed the limitations of this view by the behavioral school. Economics has often posited rationality in the context in which the choices are exercised rather than theoretical abstract view of rational action. Rational action in theory seems to be grounded in zero restraint situation yet in practice, there are numerous restra
Post a Comment
Read more

Government Twitter Battles and the Market Right

-
  In India, it seems set for showdown between the government and Twitter over its policy of moderation and refusal to ban accounts responsible for violence in the national capital on the Republic Day. The government seems in no mood to let Twitter off the hook. On the other hand the platform seems to be vouching for the right of free speech or dissent and seems to argue the government orders are in violation of Indian laws. Twitter obviously cannot sit in judgment of Indian laws. It can however challenge the government orders in the judicial forum for a remedy. Yet Twitter is hardly in a mood for the same. To Twitter riding on a high of left liberal euphoric support on its action post Capitol Hill riots seems to sense this as a move which will fetch rewards from the left liberal elite circuit as it takes on PM Modi who is the object of hate for the leftists. On the other hand, the right wing support base of PM Modi is in a mood for a bloodshed and seemingly wants Modi to crackdown.  
Post a Comment
Read more

2020 in Retrospect

-
  The year 2020 is about to fly by and we are welcoming 2021. As with any year, there would obviously be optimism as one welcomes 2021. The outgoing year has not been memorable across the human mankind. It might be one of those years which would be best left forgotten. The year 2021 is beginning with optimism and one hopes the challenges facing the existence of human mankind are overcome and a new beginning emerges. The year 2020 too was welcomed with optimism but somewhere along Wuhan in Hubei province of China, a virus was sweeping around claiming victims as it spread its tentacles far and wide. It was not that the rest of the world did not know, what perhaps was unknown the magnitude of damage it was inflicting across the city of Wuhan. China could have alerted the rest of the world but as with any other Chinese thing, they chose to remain secretive. It was a potential ruin event, to borrow from Taleb, but the World Health Organization (WHO) instead of alerting the rest of the world
Post a Comment
Read more

Macroeconomic Scenario in India: A Note

-
  The year 2020 is about to end and perhaps looking back it would be a year that would be best forgotten for all the things. The Chinese virus induced pandemic does not seem to subside with new mutations being reported and countries going into lockdowns ahead of Christmas. This is despite the vaccines are getting administered albeit the baby steps in combating this disease. While experts do believe the end game for the pandemic has begun, one has to await for some more time before any concrete results are likely to be visible. As one looks forward to 2021, at this stage it seems the economic recovery is still some way off across the world. There would be a new President in the United States and it must remain to be seen how President Joseph Biden would deal with China, the country primarily responsible for the current global crisis, social, economic and health.   The macroeconomic projections for India have been less worse than anticipated. The second quarter of the financial year
Post a Comment
Read more

Chronicling Great Indian Test Victories of the Past

-
Despite not winning the World Cup since 2011, Indian cricket has been on a roll. The dominance is strong, rarely challenged on home surfaces and currently on the leaderboard of the ongoing World Test Championship. Yet this was not the case long ago. In fact many captains like Sunil Gavaskar adopted safety first strategy and ensured India did not lose. It was world cup victory of 1983 that changed in many ways the Indians performed in cricket. However, there were turning points in Test cricket much earlier with series wins in West Indies and England in 1971. Indian victories often came through successful defense in the fourth innings than successful chases. Yet India acquired an aura in the earlier days of strong second innings performances. Many even wondered why India did not play the second innings first. The current pieces attempts to chronicle few great chases, some successful, some unsuccessful and some managing to salvage a draw. However, it is during the first sixty odd y
Post a Comment
Read more

Pakistan and Role Model Dilemma

-
As one comes to terms with the horrors of the recent massacre of school children in Peshawar, What probably went unnoticed were the names of the children who either died or escaped.   Names like Osama, Dawood Ibrahim seemed common.   In a world where names are usually associated with aesthetic or even predictive powers, these names mean something. If names are meant to convey certain signals, these do certainly reflect in a way contemporary mindset of an average Pakistani.   Stephen Levitt in his bestseller, Freakonomics goes on to discuss the economics behind names. Yet, the explanation does not answer satisfactorily, the state of affairs. Incidentally, the broader theme around which Levitt’s ideas revolves around- role of incentives; might help us in some way to understand what it means.   At the heart of the society and its inhabitants is the need to achieve, urge to succeed, climb the higher layers of the power pyramid, places oneself at the apex of the profession. Yet to
Post a Comment
Read more