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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Interesting readings

My collection of links on the transition at SEBI from C. B. Bhave to U. K. Sinha.


How India's banks killed the future of commerce on the Cleartrip blog.

The defining problem of the Indian State is the tension between spending on program that benefit the few (e.g. the typical UPA welfare program) versus programs that benefit all (i.e. public goods). This problem even extends to skimping on resources for the judiciary. See Dhananjay Mahapatra in the Times of India.

Greasing our shock absorbers by Ila Patnaik in the Indian Express, 3 February 2011. And watch her talk about the economy.

There is quite a bit of debate in India about big government versus small government. On this subject, Blanca Moreno-Dodson and Nihal Bayraktar have a note How Public Spending Can Help You Grow: An Empirical Analysis for Developing Countries. They compare a set of fast-growing developing countries to a mix of developing countries with different growth patterns. Considering the full government budget constraint, the empirical analysis shows that public spending, especially its `core' components, contributes to economic growth only in countries that are capable of using funds for productive purposes. In addition, those countries must have an adequate economic policy environment with macroeconomic stability, openness, and private sector investments that are conducive to growth. Unfortunately, their definition of `productive and core sectors' reflects World Bank ideology, and does not focus on public goods.

IT strategy for the Goods and Services Tax.


A great article on Saudi Arabia by Laurence Wright.

Tunisia and Egypt continue to be incredibly important and riveting. I really enjoy the thought, however fatuous, about every strongman across the world sleeping a little less easy. See Why Egypt should worry China by Barry Eichengreen on Project Syndicate. On the East Asia Forum, Peter Beck tells the story about how the dictatorship collapsed in Korea. Robert L. Tignor on Project Syndicate locates the present discussion in Egyptian history.

Read this interview with Andreas Wesemann.


The wonderful world of Android: link, link.

Is Your Job an Endangered Species? by Andy Kessler in the Wall Street Journal.

Abrupt change in authoritarian regimes: Gary Becker, Richard Posner.

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