Thursday, May 29, 2014

Some economic discussions - 2

If there is any person whom I personally know for so long and still respect, that must be him. He was instrumental in my survival through a very difficult phase of my life and even before and after that, I've held him in high regard. Our political, social, and economic understanding often finds grounds of clash or resonance. And whether we agree or not, I love discussing things with him - for there are few people with whom I always end up on the learning side. 

Since the whole nation is mired in electoral and political discussions these days, we also had a little chat on Facebook. Copying that here for those interested and for my own long-term reference. I've edited out others' comments and fringe content to maintain the focus.


Anand Mishra wrote:

For the most part, ‘Congress or BJP ‘ is a false choice, at least on the economic front. Both parties are leading us to a middle-income- country trap. “Hindu rate of growth” is not the only kind of trap we have to worry about. Let’s consider Mexico and India together.

Like India, Mexico was a largely socialist country and most industries were state monopolies till 1970s, protected from foreign competition by high tariffs. Later, these businesses were sold off to the private sector, which in practice often meant few wealthy families with access to capital, who wound up buying the businesses at prices well below their book value. The state monopolies became private monopolies. This leaves Mexico with a growing concentration of wealth in the hands of few. Today, the top-ten Mexican families account for more than a third of its total stock market value, one of the highest concentrations among emerging markets. The number of billionaires from India has been on the rise, and the churn within that list of billionaires is very little. In 1990s and early 2000s, it seemed to me that India finally was going through the much needed churn in business when some of the new IT and pharma companies broke onto the scene. Since then, Ambanis, Adanis, Jindals etc have clawed back.


A few strong companies and booming stock markets should, but do not necessarily, make for strong economies, so let’s not confuse the two. Just for the perspective, the GDP per capita (nominal) for India and Mexico are around 1500 and 10,000 $ respectively. So tell me why would you not think that neither BJP nor Congress will address the fundamental risk our economy is exposed to?


Siddhartha Rastogi wrote - Comment 1

Government monitored and regulated capitalism is good... crony capitalism is too bad. Holding this true and picking from where you have left - the new wave of entrepreneurs and the old business houses, we need to see who (between Congress and BJP) promotes more entrepreneurship and competition in the markets. 
I do not have the data but the anecdotal evidence suggests NDA did far better in this domain.

Comment 2

 And also, some very brief step-by-step income impact of liberalization - globalization - privatization:

1. It increases GDP and GDP per capita 


2. Income increase is more for those who already have capacity to participate in the economic process 


3. Poor income groups benefit far lesser than richer ones


4. The income gap increases


5. The thing to see here is not that every one must be getting equally better off. Rather, nobody should be getting worse off. 


6. Now enters the government in the scene - if some one is getting worse off (due to this process and not due to their own laziness), government would intervene and protect the property rights by forcing the beneficiary to pay for the losses.


7. Also, over time, even poor would develop the capacity to participate in the economic system


8. That is when the government spends on education, health, and security (and not on doles) 


9. So the income inequality ought to be a short term (not more than 20-30 years) phenomena. After that, the inequality should fall again.


10. China is a bad example to quote in many ways but Chinese poor are far more enabled to seek opportunities. 


11. To close with Deng Xiaoping's remark, when he was asked about increasing inequality in China as a result of economic reforms: "Let some people get rich first".


Anand Mishra wrote:

The argument that let's have growth now, we will worry about atavistic impulses within the country later, is fallacious.Tad too much reliance on identities in a society, you have an upper limit to growth. We have to find a balance between the human need to have identities and necessity of keeping those identities in private domain. 

Mexico's per capita GDP is at least 6 times higher than ours, and the country has not been able to solve its basic issues of education, health, crime, corruption etc. 


Baaki tumhari doosare comment pe hum baad me baat karnege,mil ke kabhee, many terms like liberalization, globalization are loaded, and I don't know if you and I have similar understanding of those terms. And, beyond a point, I believe, economics also becomes a subject of faith. But I see what you are saying.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Recommendations on Movies and TV Series

Recently, I got to discuss with my students some ideas that help in developing critical thinking. They asked for some recommendations and I ended up making a longish list. Here are a few things that I recommended. The list is obviously incomplete and limited by my own knowledge and memory, both. Watch these with a critical mind and at your own risk.

Good Luck :)

Last Updated on Sep 14, 2020:

TV Series

Hindi: Chanakya, Flop Show, Malgudi Days, Byomkesh Bakshi, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Panchayat, Kota Factory, Flames.

English: Sopranos; Mad Men; Lie to Me; Dexter; Mentalist; Game of Thrones; Big Bang Theory; Young Sheldon; FRIENDS; Sherlock (BBC); Frasier; Wonder Years; Seinfeld; Suits, The Boys, Zoo, Mock the Week, 

Animation: South Park; Family Guy; Simpsons; Futurama

Movies

Animation Movies: Toy Story series; Mulan; Wall-E, Grave of the Fireflies; Brother Bear; Despicable Me; The Prince of Egypt; Mosnter Inc.; Monster House; Delhi Safari (Hindi); The Incredibles; The Lego Movie, Ferdinand, Kung Fu Panda, Ice Age, Over the Hedge, How to Train Your Dragon, 

Hindi Movies: Shanghai; Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi; Drohkaal; Saaraansh; Haasil; Darmyaan; Daayra; Thoda sa rumani ho jayein; Namkeen; Mandi; Manorama 6 feet Under; Mere Apne; Anand; Masoom; Swades; Dor; Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro; Damini; Water; Karz; Corporate; Mother India; Peepli Live; Raincoat; Chittagong;  Iqbal; Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander; Katha; Maqbool; Bol; Bhindi Bazaar; Angoor; Dharm; Love Sex Aur Dhokha; Garm Hawa; Khuda Ke Liye; Koshish; Firaaq; Raat Gayi Baat Gayi; Parzania; Pushpak; The Stoneman Murders; Tahaan; Road to Sangam; Stanley Ka Dabba; Hey Ram; Gaman; Satyakaam; Waisa Bhi Hota Hai - Part 2; Godmother; Maachis; Pyasa (Guru Datt); Kaaghaz ke Phool; Kitaab; Socha na tha; Lahore; Ijaazat;

Other Languages: Children of Heaven (Persian); Bicycle Thief (Italian); City of God (Portuguese); Shwaas (Marathi); 22 June 1897 (Marathi); Emile (French); Titli (Bengali); 96 (Tamil); Vikram Vedha (Tamil); 

English: Blood Diamond; A Beautiful Life; It's a Wonderful Life; Schindler's List; Shawshank Redemption; Bucket List; As Good As It Gets; Guns of Navarone; Last King of Scotland ; The Terminal; Big; Waitress; 2 Brothers; The Majestic; The Gods Must Be Crazy 1 & 2; If Only; The Majestic; The Truman Show; Forrest Gump; Leon; Psycho; Clockwork Orange; Lord of War; Million Dollar Baby; Munich; Interview with the Vampire - The Vampire Chronicles; October Sky; The Illusionist; Play it again Sam; I am Sam; Green Mile; Cube Zero ; Crash; The King's Speech; In Pursuit of Happiness; Invictus; 127 hours; Dances with Wolves ; Due Date; Fight Club ; ConAir; When Nietzsche Wept; Water for Elephants; Man from Earth; Hot Shots; The Pianist; The Blind Side; Erin Brockovich; X-Men series; Movie 43; Gran Torino; The Man Who knew too Little; 

(Rule: If it features one of these names, watch it - Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey).


P.S. - Let me know if you wish for a book / literature recommendation list too. Will try to prepare one! 

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