All hopes seem to hinge on PM Hasina to bring in reforms once re-elected. With a politicised bureaucracy, hardly any independent institutions & assured political dominance for some time to come, it is very easy for a govt to turn complacent or worse, apathetic suvojitc.substack.com/p/bangladesh-a…
Electoral giveaways are only one part of a larger welfare agenda that #India desperately needs. Alongside, it is important to reflect on the failure of the social contract between citizens and governments. suvojitc.substack.com/p/a-welfare-...
Israel has so far killed 10,500 civilians and 50 Hamas members in Gaza. Looks like Hamas is the collateral damage here.
An oppressor's best friend is the 'silent majority'.
There is an urgent need to unlock labor productivity in African economies: kenopalo.substack.com/p/there-is-a...
The US. Canada. Australia. New Zealand. Apartheid South Africa. Rhodesia. Israel. Settler colonialism has happened before, it is happening now, and you need to oppose it in every instance.
Today's Nobel for Claudia Goldin is inspiring in so many ways.
One of them is recognizing important *descriptive* work built painstakingly over decades. This is rare.
Two big examples are Fogel (C.Goldin's advisor) and Kuznets (Fogel's advisor). Few other examples (Stone, Deaton, Ostrom?).
Claudia Goldin: Nobel (and superstar)
In this Substack, I discuss some of her major contributions to Economics, including today's publication, "Why Women Won"
draliceevans.substack.com/p/claudia-go...
"An alarming 53% said a coup would be legitimate if civilian leaders abuse their power, which they often do." www.economist.com/leaders/2023...
The scheme needs reform, it needs to be tailored to local contexts, which is possible only through an effective decentralisation. suvojitc.substack.com/p/we-need-ab...
NREGS is a demand driven scheme, with a constitutional guarantee of work. The mounting demand for work for minimum wages just underlines the rural distress in India.
India's national cash for work programme, NREGS, has run out of funds within six months. www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...
On working with governments in #Somalia - a round up of lessons on what to do and what not to. suvojitc.substack.com/p/learning-b...
What is the value added of local democracy? Fascinating paper on a natural experiment in India: Local democracy aligns spending more closely with citizen preferences, but these gains accrue more to advantaged groups. documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/0...
A quarterly round up of links. suvojitc.substack.com/p/on-politic...
Congrats to CPR India on celebrating 50 years and to
Yamini Aiyar and colleagues for continuing their vital work under difficult circumstances. We learn so much from CPR scholars on a daily basis. cprindia.org/wp-content/u...
Thanks @evavivalt.bsky.social, @davidubilava.bsky.social, @suvojitc.bsky.social, & more! Think this little presentation advice set has turned out pretty well. Feel free to borrow.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Now I need to follow my own advice and build my first presentation for this class...
