Op-Ed – Page 58 – NICKELED AND DIMED

Rajan’s craftsmanship

Through this article, Deepanshu Mohan expresses his concerns about the unsatisfactory approaches adopted by most educational institutions towards learning Economics, and lists out the factors that set Raghuram Rajan apart, as a brilliant craftsman of discipline of economics. In the book Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists*, written in 2004, Raghuram Rajan and Luigi Zingales argued…
Read more: Rajan’s craftsmanship
India’s Alternative Approach Towards African Market.

In this article, Atharva argues that despite the availability of abundance of mineral reserves in Africa, the country depends on foreign economic actors and investments owing to the lack of a sustainable manufacturing sector. This makes Africa prone to exploitation, by countries that look for an external source to uplift their consumer markets. However, the…
Read more: India’s Alternative Approach Towards African Market.
The Commodity Price Shock in Venezuela

The state of Venezuela currently finds itself in a beleaguered state. The downturn in global commodity prices, particularly oil (Venezuela’s chief export), has hit the Venezuelan economy hard. In this article, Achyut Mishra attempts to analyse the relationship between a Commodity Price Shock (henceforth CPS) and various macroeconomic indicators of Venezuelan economy.
Read more: The Commodity Price Shock in Venezuela
Aid as the Catalyst for Reduced Trust in Governmental Institutions

A recent article on the Economist magazine makes a very direct (if rather obvious, on the second thought) argument that diagnoses why underdeveloped states do not attract resources for development. Specifically, in underdeveloped states, there is complete lack of popular confidence on proper functioning of bureaucracies, enforcement of laws, and legal acknowledgement of written agreements as stipulated in their…
Read more: Aid as the Catalyst for Reduced Trust in Governmental Institutions
Asia’s Cauldron – The South China Sea and the End of Stable Pacific by Robert D. Kaplan

Robert D. Kaplan is an American journalist whose articles about U.S. and Chinese power have spurred debates in the media, academia and high levels of governments. Most of his works talk about the re-emergence of tensions, maybe they be historic or cultural, that were suspended temporarily during the Cold War. In his book, “Asia’s Cauldron”,…
Read more: Asia’s Cauldron – The South China Sea and the End of Stable Pacific by Robert D. Kaplan
Rohingya’s in Delhi: “Had I Not Escaped I Would Have Been Killed”

Despite having been termed “the world’s least wanted”, the Rohingyas are determined to get back their rights they were once denuded of. Devika Sahni writes about their escape from Myanmar to India, for a livelihood. But having earned nothing but betrayal from the government, they should now make do with what’s left of them… In a…
Read more: Rohingya’s in Delhi: “Had I Not Escaped I Would Have Been Killed”
East China Sea Dispute is Getting Worse not Better

With the diplomatic talks having effectuated zilch, are we looking at another Sino-Japanese conflict? Why would the international tribunal not be the effective way to deal with the dispute, which is potentially getting worse? Amrita Jash contemplates a military crack-up between the two nations unless joint initiatives are taken to mitigate the growing tension from both…
Read more: East China Sea Dispute is Getting Worse not Better
India and Brexit

What does the post-Brexit aftermath imply for India? Richa Sekhani poses the question for India to assess what the possible short and long term implications can be. With Brexit decided, the British have dismantled the decision they had taken to join the common market in 1975 and have unwittingly opened a Pandora’s Box not only for…
Read more: India and Brexit
Liquidity Crunch and its Implications on Argentina

The macroeconomic history of Argentina has always been a tumultuous one. The country has defaulted on its external and internal debts many times, has experienced a couple of episodes of hyperinflation, and has also faced several banking crises. These events can be explained by a plethora of endogenous and exogenous factors. These factors though, it…
Read more: Liquidity Crunch and its Implications on Argentina
Book Review: Debt-Updated and Expanded-The First 5000 Years

In this sharp review of D. Graeber’s book, ‘Debt-Updated and Expanded: The First 5000 Years’ released in 2014 Tejaswini Chepyala traces the financial crisis of 2008 back to the historical roots of debt to weave an informative and eye-opening essay. Have you wondered why a U.S dollar note has the word “debt” imprinted on it?…
Read more: Book Review: Debt-Updated and Expanded-The First 5000 Years
The Social-Justice Implications of Brexit

In the ongoing brouhuahua over Brexit, Kalyani Unkule tries to uniquely assess the impact on global social justice through the various consequences Brexit threatens to have on politics, trade relations, and the lives of the British people. Even as the political and economic fallout of the result of the Brexit referendum largely remain matters of…
Read more: The Social-Justice Implications of Brexit
Sectoral Analysis: E-commerce in India

In the past few decades, rapid development in the information and telecommunications sector has greatly impacted the way we live- especially with the growing importance of the e-commerce sector. While the traditional shop-based retailing still thrives, e-commerce has been consistently gaining ground with the entry of e-commerce behemoths such as Amazon and Alibaba along with…
Read more: Sectoral Analysis: E-commerce in India