Information Economy

Nuclear Energy - Do we need it?

2011-04-25T00:24:00.000-04:00

Following a very interesting debate in our Public Economics class, I looked for other arguments for and against nuclear power. Here's a great debate on TED.

Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy? | Video on TED.com

Also, The Economist Debates has a great debate and associated background reading here.

Domestic Transformer

2010-05-01T23:37:00.002-04:00

This is an amazing apartment in Hong Kong. It might seem a bit unwieldy, but I think it's genius - all the details.

HT: TopCultured

Opportunity Cost view of rating movies

2009-11-14T21:36:00.002-05:00

How I rate a movie depends on how badly I wanted to watch the movie, and what my situation is. This leads me to believe that the "opportunity cost" of watching the movie has a large part to play in how I rate movies. If it's a middling movie and I'm bored, I am entertained enough for it to be worth my while. If I'm really busy and I find a movie even marginally less than superb, it will get a relatively bad rating from me.

This is also why I may not trust other people's judgement (unless it's a consensus view). Wisdom of the crowds may remove this effect though, through regression to the mean.

Work-Driving as bad as Drink-Driving

2009-10-02T09:51:00.001-04:00

... according to NYTimes.

A Kinder, Gentler take on Success and Failure

2009-08-13T20:11:00.002-04:00

This TED talk advocating a softer approach to judging oneself and other people, is quite a gentle but effective thought-provoker.

A case against the kind of meritocratic snobbery we all indulge in.

trip trop nyc - public transport visual map of nyc

2009-04-28T17:31:00.001-04:00

This tool can tell you approximately (visually) how far and accessible a place is from any given address in NYC. I think there's an equivalent for London too. Quite nice.

Indian Democaracy and Hunger

2009-04-28T09:52:00.001-04:00

Alex Tabarrok (Marginal Revolution) had this to say after his TED talk:

A lot of people say that India has been held back by its democracy. But let’s remember that despite being a poor country India’s democracy meant that its government never let millions of people starve. No politician wants to starve potential voters. In the long run, I think India is going to benefit from its democracy and not be harmed by it. Democracy is, in a sense, like markets. It provides information and feedback, it leads to a more open system and it constrains government from the worst kinds of abuses. I think that the more China proceeds along the wealth path, the more difficult they will find it not to have a democracy.

Of Fortune Cookies and General Tso's Long March

2008-12-31T14:35:00.001-05:00

This entertaining TED talk explores the roots of American-Chinese food.

Child Hunger In India

2008-10-14T14:30:00.003-04:00

I read this piece on BBC. I was alarmed at how bad it is (statistically). I was even more alarmed that I (I like to consider myself relatively well-informed and conscientious) didn't think it was this bad. We can lead pretty insular lives sometimes.

UPS has a great interactive brochure

2008-09-25T16:08:00.002-04:00

This is a fantastic interactive guide from UPS.

Ron Paul on the federail bailout plan

2008-09-25T12:16:00.002-04:00

Ron Paul to Ben Bernanke on the bailout:

Email formats

2008-09-12T17:49:00.002-04:00

Why don't we have a standard email format? We have HTML and text options for email, but the constant complaint for most people is that emails get wrongly formatted and look very different from the way the sender intended it to look. Why is this? Can't we have an 'email markup language' of some sort - that can standardize all email to make it look the same? Or does the problem lie with plain text clients (are they the lowest common denominator)?

Why I stopped taking coke

2008-09-05T17:21:00.004-04:00

No... not me. Helen Mirren talks about it here.

Made me think of all my consumer habits that can be linked to a root that is not altogether palatable. Should we even go down this path? To do that would be to question the premise of comparative advantage.

Vélib

2008-07-14T12:18:00.003-04:00

I discovered the Vélib’ (short for vélo liberté) in Paris - a public bicycle transit system which comprises of a network of hundreds of bike stops through the city (only 300m apart). In a city with a great metro system, this filled the void. It helped me see the city better, actually navigate the streets without needing to walk and the best part? It's free if you return it to another stand within a half hour. It's the perfect solution for short commutes, and I can't wait for it to come to the US.

Videos about it here and here.

SOS

2008-06-15T11:30:00.001-04:00

According to this BBC article, SOS (contrary to popular belief) does not stand for "Save Our Souls" or anything of the kind. It was just a matter of signaling clarity.
Very interesting.

Going Forward... Let's drop the clichés

2008-06-15T11:15:00.002-04:00

Lucy Kellaway is brilliant while writing about business-speak that really assaults the ear.
Hear, hear.

Employee Morale and You

2008-04-21T15:52:00.003-04:00

Some of my views on workplace morale (or "What I would do if I were the CEO):

(1) There is great value in morale. Productivity can vary from 25% of time spent to 100% of time spent producing valuable work. When morale is good, the number is closer to 75% (allowing for blind alleys) and when morale is low it is closer to 25%.

(2) There is also a lot of value in having smart people at the workplace. Not only do they have more ideas, they tend to be less homogeneous. Also, they are a great sounding board off which to bounce ideas. Having someone smart to talk to and even talking about something completely unrelated can substantially improve productivity and make the person feel stimulated.

(3) The value of having someone dedicated to morale and smartness is great. This person can talk to everyone in turns. He/she becomes a walking “breath of fresh air”. If you meet someone in the break room or when walking down the corridor, then more often than not, that person is absorbed in a different problem, or is jaded or talks shop. Now, if there is one smart person who talks to you about nothing remotely related to your immediate problem – the value of the stimulating distraction is quite large.

Willpower Rationing

2008-04-03T18:53:00.002-04:00

This is an interesting article about willpower. Some good tips on saving, diets and preparing for exams can be deduced from the article. Although nothing new is said here, I find it is good to read these things in one concise article.

A Contrarian View on Microfinance

2008-03-10T16:32:00.002-04:00

This article makes some interesting points and claims that microfinance is not a panacea.

Chart Smart

2008-01-17T11:27:00.001-05:00

From Tim Harford's blog at FT.com, I was led to Conde Nast Portfolio's 'Chart Smart' quiz on economic history. It consists of just 4 charts to be interpreted and is scored up to 20. Quite interesting.

Take it here.

I got 13/20 for a 'B' grade. I am proud of the fact that my reasoning for all the answers I got right was quite accurate.

Recession or Coverup?

2008-01-08T14:38:00.000-05:00

Merrill Lynch says recession is here in the US. How much of it is subversive scaremongering to put their losses in a kinder light?

The Case for a Gasoline Tax?

2007-11-14T10:43:00.001-05:00

In the NY Times, Thomas Friedman criticizes all parties' reluctance to support the gasoline tax.

We need Newspapers... not.

2007-11-13T08:17:00.000-05:00

This piece in the New York Times claims that we will all be somehow less informed if newspapers don't exist, and that the death of local newspapers is an ominous sign. Those are not his primary points, but it is a gross misjudgment of the world as it is today. I am not sure of the chairman of the FCC is aware of the prominence of the internet, and secondary news sources like TV. We get our information quicker, from more sources and can make up our own minds, thank you very much.

I, for one, feel more informed now than ever before - and I stopped my newspaper subscription quite a while ago.

Greed is Good...

2007-11-05T12:50:00.000-05:00

Charles Wheelan (of The Naked Economist fame) addresses the issue of income inequality very effectively in this piece.

Some of the key statements (in my opinion):

"If the gap between rich and poor gets too large, and if those at the bottom feel they have no meaningful route to the riches at the top, then the fabric of society will fray, or even come unraveled entirely."

"Thus, a $50 million bonus for a Wall Street CEO also inspires that ambitious guy in the mailroom to get out of bed if he thinks he's got a shot at being CEO someday. Even my undergraduate economics students work harder because they need good grades in order to get coveted investment banking jobs."

"People would prefer to have less stuff, as long as they have more stuff than the neighbors."

All very pertinent. Wealth and Happiness.

Being Muslim in a secular country

2007-11-05T11:02:00.000-05:00

This is a superbly written piece about what it means to be muslim in India. Brilliant. Read it.

The Rs. 1 Lakh Car spells doom

2007-11-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

Thomas Friedman's piece in the NY Times makes a persuasive argument against the Rs 1 lakh car. I have spoken with friends about this earlier - more cars on the road is bad. There is no space, there is already too much pollution, and then there is the other ill that is parking congestion. The myopic view on this also starts us off on a dangerous path. With increased affordability, the American way of multiple cars per family will become the norm, but how will this be supported? Can we, in India, live like the Americans? Do we want to?

Global Warming debuts in SimCity

2007-10-26T14:41:00.000-04:00

Al Gore must be smiling. EA and BP have combined to introduce global warming based incentives in SimCity. More here...

Hat tip to India Uncut.

Indian Aid Money Goes Missing

2007-10-23T15:49:00.000-04:00

The only-too-common story of corruption in the name of 'relief funds' in India. Aparrently, Coal India Ltd. (CIL) kept the money that was to go to the tsunami and other relief efforts.

"We are never asked. Whenever there is a natural calamity and the prime minister asks for donations, the management and unions mutually agree that a day's wages will be deducted for the relief fund,"

Read about it here.

Marriage Futures

2007-10-22T15:09:00.001-04:00

This is very interesting, and something I once mentioned, albeit in a modified form, to a colleague.

Hat tip to Marginal Revolution.

Vote Green

2007-10-22T11:57:00.000-04:00

In the NY Times, Thomas. L. Friedman makes a great point about thinking green. The leaders are the ones who have the ability to really make sea changes and choosing the right leader by researching their policies and holding them accountable has a much bigger impact than little things like driving hybrid cars, he says. I tend to agree with him.

Read more about it here...

Mo Ibrahim Prize

2007-10-22T11:40:00.000-04:00

The inaugural Mo-Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership went to Joaquim Chissano, the former president of Mozambique. He is called a rarity in African politics, as one of the few leaders who left the office with his reputation intact.

What I find very impressive is the positive effect someone like Mo Ibrahim is having in the African community.

Globalization and Inequality

2007-10-17T17:03:00.001-04:00

In the Becker-Posner blog, an interesting report by the IMF is discussed. In discussing globalization and inequality, they report that although the inequality has increased in developing countries as a result of globalization (itself a remarkable admission by IMF - and often equated by critics to be an admission of failure), this inequality is because the gains for the people at the higher income levels is greater than the gains for people at the lower levels. This does not equate to the 'poor becoming poorer' in any way.

Being an engineer, I like to think of it using a physical analogy. Assume two plates A and B, separated by a spring.

Scenario 1: When A is pushed up, the spring contracts for a while before the plate B begins to rise. This causes a slight contraction in the space between the plates.
Scenario 2: When B is lifted up, the spring expands for a while before the plate A at the bottom begins to rise, thereby increasing the gap between the plates. Both plates however, do rise.

Now, most of the benefits of globalization trickles down to the lower income people through the high income people. Therefore, the pattern is closer to Scenario 2 above. So, although there is rising inequality, it cannot be refuted that people of all income levels do see increased incomes.

Having said that, the issue that comes to focus is that the rising of income levels in general, and in particular, the growing inequality causes inflation to affect people of lower incomes much more than people of higher income. This is quite a prominent issue in Bangalore, India - where the income of the IT employees has caused such remarkable inflation within the city, that the growth rate of the incomes for those at lower income levels cannot keep up with the rising costs. In this case, they might even have been better off before the rise in incomes.

Progressive Trade Agenda

2007-10-12T12:24:00.000-04:00

This commentary on progressive trade agendas is interesting. Even more interesting is the actual piece here. I like the second comment:

"multilateral trade liberaltion is superior because they have greater bargaining power collectively than they would negotiating 1-on-1 with a large trade partner..."

This is such a crucial reason why multilateral trade negotiations and the inter-governmental agencies (despite their red-tape and other faults) are needed.

Why Prospects for Trade Talks are not Bright

2007-10-10T11:56:00.000-04:00

A good article in the IMF Journal lists some reasons why the Doha (the development round?) round of talks broke down. An interesting claim is that the multilateral arrangement broke down partly because the bigger developing countries (Mexico, Brazil) had regional arrangements and unilateral trade barrier reduction (owing to IMF/World Bank involvement) that would've broken down if the multilateral approach was taken. The regional 'cartel' arrangement of sorts would've been diluted by new entrants into the market.

Wealth vs. Happiness - The Debate

2007-10-10T11:11:00.001-04:00

The Economist debate comes to NYC. The wildly successful and popular debate series in London is now in NYC. The proposition this time is "America is failing at the pursuit of happiness." The debaters include Jeffrey D. Sachs and one of my favorite economist-bloggers, Tyler Cowen.

You can buy tickets to attend the debate, which i expect to be engaging. I've got my ticket already. Email me if you'd like to join me on Saturday, November 10.

Foreign Ownership

2007-10-10T11:10:00.000-04:00

On reading the WSJ article on foreign ownership of British companies, I was reminded of another arena close to my heart where foreign ownership has become the talking point - football (soccer). West Ham United, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Fulham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool - that's 7 of the 20 clubs in the top division in England - with foreign owners. Considering the first foreign owner wasn't until this century, that's a quick development. Arsenal is under threat to be bought out soon enough, and that'll make it a full 40% of the clubs that will be foreign owned.

There are many reasons why ownership of or stake in a football club is different from owning stake in industrial companies. They are rarely as profitable, and the upside is seriously capped by the fact that no club/franchise is bigger than the league, Manchester United notwithstanding.

Second, ownership is sometimes viewed as part of a strategic move even if it's a loss-making venture. Sports opens doors, in the corporate world as well as in the political. Board members of firms look kindly upon owners of their favorite football clubs. There is no better way to make a political foray into a new marketplace than to lead/own a successful club to which the people of the region owe their allegiance.

Third, goodwill is an immeasurably important criteria in their balance sheets. Stakeholders in the club will lend you a remarkable amount of rope if you have generated enough goodwill - through your acts at the club, or in the handling of their favorite players. Some of the objectivity of industrial companies is lost.

In some ways, I'd liken owning and running a football club to running a non-profit NGO. If you do it right, you'd generate just as much goodwill and be given as much slack.

Information

2007-10-10T11:08:00.000-04:00

This blog contains my opinions on economics and global affairs. I am sure the readings will trigger numerous ideas, and this is as good a place and medium as any, to put some of it down. You're welcome to read and comment on the topics here.

In an ideal world, I'd like this blog to trigger some good discussion in and outside class.

Cheers.