Today my guests are Tom Easton and Arjun Ramani from The Economist. Tom Easton is Mumbai bureau chief. He joined The Economist in 2000 at the New York bureau and was appointed the Asian business editor in 2007. Arjun Ramani is on an extended stint in Mumbai and Delhi bureaus covering the Indian economy before this he was in the London office. We spoke about various aspects of covered in a recent six-part special report on India’s economy written by Arjun and Tom.

Recorded May 2nd, 2024.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:03) - The India Express and its Future

(00:01:57) - Reasons for Optimism and Pessimism Over India’s Future

(00:14:45) - Long-Run Economic Growth

(00:18:51) - Is India Prepared to be a Capitalist Country?

(00:29:37) - Unemployment vs. Informal Labor Market in India

(00:47:17) - India and Education

(00:51:21) - State Capacity Problems

(01:02:11) - Concrete Ceilings for Indian Businesses

(01:08:24) - The Binding Constraint

(01:13:30) - Industrial Policy

(01:31:53) - Future of Economic Journalism

(01:44:50) - Outro

Today my guest is Rohit Lamba, an assistant professor of economics at Pennsylvania State University and a visiting assistant professor of economics at New York University Abu Dhabi. We spoke about his recent book Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India’s Economic Future which he has coauthored with Raghuram Rajan.

We spoke about their argument to shift the focus from industrial and trade policy towards a services and education policy, how India can and should decentralize, if India can scale education and health, India’s growth rate numbers, and much more.

Recorded April 19th, 2024.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:05:21) - Zooming into Indian States

(00:20:25) - Why not Decentralization?

(00:26:28) - Scaling Education

(00:51:14) - Educating the Global South

(00:53:22) - Picking Winners and Losers

(01:10:22) - India's Growth Rate

(01:18:44) - Outro

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Today my guest is Rasheed Griffith, who is the CEO of the Caribbean Progress Studies Institute, the host of the podcast the Rasheed Griffith Show, and one of my favorite writers on Substack. He also directs the Emergent Ventures Africa-Caribbean grants program at the Mercatus Center.

We spoke about whether the former colonizers owe reparations to the Caribbean people, economic divergence in post-colonial Caribbean countries, Caribbean music, homophobia, VS Naipaul, West Indian cricket team, and much more.

Recorded April 4th, 2024.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:09:37) - Do Former Colonizers Owe Reparations to the Caribbean People?

(00:22:29) - The Counterfactual for Caribbean Colonies

(00:35:48) - India, Caribbean and Scale

(00:40:52) - Is Saint Lucia the Best at Spotting Talent?

(00:49:37) - Caribbean Civil Rights Movement

(00:58:01) - Innovation in Caribbean Music

(01:03:59) - Homophobia

(01:13:10) - Most Underrated Caribbean Island?

(01:19:05) - V.S. Naipual

(01:30:57) - Outro

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