Public Policy – NICKELED AND DIMED

Banking Instability in The Digital Age

This article will explore how low levels of public confidence coupled with the recent advancements in digital technology has accelerated the pace of bank runs and subsequently, bank failures in major Western economies.To survey this phenomenon, the article will assess the major reasons shaping the current distrust, with the handling of the financial crisis of…
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Women with Capes

By celebrating and quoting the strong and powerful women who have achieved so much, are we trying to reinforce unrealistic expectations of what a perfect ‘woman’ should be? Is refraining from sacrificing too much and choosing to focus on one task at a time instead of trying to multitask an indication that she is any…
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The Reorientation of Central Banks

This article will explore the conflict between the macroeconomic objectives of central banks and their invisible accountability to the people. In this exploration, we broadly analyze the actions of the Federal Reserve as evidence for the existence of this conflict.
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SPILLING THE ‘BAN’?

This article endeavors to explore the policy ramifications of Taliban’s ban on girls education. In a progressively globalized, dynamic international landscape, the repercussions of this ban are not limited to the region in question or to the populace directly influenced. Thus the article acknowledges the presence of externalities of this decision for other countries; namely…
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Does reviving the Old Pension scheme make sense?

As Himachal Pradesh joins Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Punjab in the club, it is plausible that the trend of restoring the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) could be dying anytime soon. The oversaturated debate on freebies has now been replaced by a policy revival only intended to serve electoral purposes. Unlike freebies, reviving the OPS is not…
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The Forgotten Nomads: Mapping the Case of Gadia Lohar Community through the Lens of Public Policy

Smoke fumes from a chulah, a lady dressed in a brightly coloured ghaghara with tinted glass bangles, and a cart carrying the baggage of the past. I remember watching this sight near the outskirts of my city Bhopal, wondering who these people were and how far their lives were from ours. Little did I know…
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Platforms, Protocols and Policies in India

The Government of India (GoI) is planning to implement the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a hypothesized protocol to unbundle the current platform-centric model for digital commerce and allow for a freer flow of value within the ecosystem. This article explains the protocol and analyzes its potential impacts on Indian digital commerce.
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Powering the Indian Energy Sector: Why the new Electricity (Amendment) Bill is necessary but not sufficient to revive India’s broken energy economics

The provision of electricity, as a good, has two main components: its generation and its distribution. The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 focuses on reforming the distribution component of the Indian energy sector to remedy its long-standing malaise. This article analyzes the Bill and its potential impacts, specifically defending its necessity as an economic and public…
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Bursting the EdTech Bubble: Why India Needs to Regulate the EdTech Sector

The EdTech industry in India has been experiencing rapid growth in the past few years, fuelled by increased access to technology and digital literacy after the pandemic. While the industry has transformed learning and paved the way for a more blended form of learning in both online and offline mediums, the industry is breaking its…
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One-China Policy’s True Meaning

Taiwan and China’s relationship has evolved over several decades and both sides have looked forward to a sense of closure. As is the case for most conflict-prone areas, the concerned parties are unable to reach any accord. The only difference is the status quo which they have derived for themselves was a stopgap, which is…
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Is Welfarism an Answer to Rising Hindu Nationalism?

The Aam Aadmi party’s victory in Punjab has been marked as the dawn of a new political bloc making the party be reckoned amongst the likes of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress (INC). A political startup has officially achieved the status of a two-state party without aligning under any regional…
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Nudging Patriarchy into the Grave of Stereotypes

This article aims to analyse how the application of Nudge Theory can turn the failure of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative into a success by adding a few ‘new nudges’ recommended by me.
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