December 2008 - Posts - An Awkward Corner

December 2008 - Posts

The Economics Of Economics Teaching

Posted by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha at 
This is a guest post by my friend Ramgopal, who teaches economics at Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu. "Many college and university teachers, me included, are jubilant now that the cabinet has cleared the sixth pay commission recommendations. The rationale provided for the substantial hike in pay is that it will provide the required incentive...

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The Problem With Microfinance

Posted by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha at 
I would not describe myself as a registered microfinance sceptic, but there is one question that has troubled me all along: why is it that Bangladesh is so desperately poor when it has some of the world's best and most successful microfinance lenders? A very good letter written by Milford Bateman , a visiting professor of economics at a university...

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How Do You Pay Your Credit Card Bills?: Lessons From Behavioural Economics

Posted by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha at 
There is a bit of psychology involved in the way people go about paying their credit card bills. The Economist cites a study by Neil Stewart, a psychologist at Warwick University in the UK. "Mr Stewart presented 413 people with mock credit-card bills of £435.76 (about $650) that were identical—except that only half mentioned a minimum payment of...

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Too Big To Fail

Posted by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha at 
Hat Tip: Greg Mankiw Share this post: email it! | del.icio.us! | digg it! | newsVine!

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Why and How: Two Secrets From Paul Krugman

Posted by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha at 
Paul Krugman was in Stockholm to collect his Nobel last week --- and I came across two interesting factoids in his speech and in an interview he gave to the Nobel Foundation. These may interest even those who have absolutely no interest in economics. First, the interview. You can get streaming video here . Krugman was asked why he became an economist...

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Message to America from China: "Be Nice To Countries That Lend You Money"

Posted by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha at 
The Chinese seem to have decided that it is time they told Americans a few blunt truths. The website of Atlantic Monthly has an incisive and entertaining interview by James Fallows of Gao Xiqing, who manages $200 billion of China’s $2 trillion forex reserves. Here are a few of the punches thrown by one of the most influential men in the Chinese financial...

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Spend More On Defence: But How?

Posted by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha at 
There is now growing clamour for higher defence spending so that India can fight its war against cross-border terror more effectively. An economist has to ask the inevitable question: where will the money come from? I had raised this issue in a recent column in Mint, Reading Kautilya In Mumbai . "There is first the problem of how this war is to...

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Mumbai Terror Attack: Remembering Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Posted by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha at 
The heads have started rolling --- and high time too. While people such as Shivraj Patil, Vilasrao Deshmukh and R.R. Patil deserve to be sacked, this is also a good time to look at the overall leadership deficit in India. The best thing I can do right now is to look at the tremendous record of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel , India's first and finest...

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