Arjun Ramani and Thomas Easton Decode India's Changing Economic Landscape
Release Date: 05/23/2024
Taking Stock of the Indian Economy with Prachi Mishra
Ideas of India
Today my guest is Prachi Mishra, who is a Professor in the Department of Economics, and Director and Head of Isaac Center for Public Policy at Ashoka University. Prior to joining Ashoka, Prachi was Chief of the Systemic Issues Division and Advisor in the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund. We spoke about the current state of the Indian economy, India’s growth trajectory, if the rupee is overvalued, India’s fiscal consolidation, and much more. We also spoke about Trade, but this episode was recorded before the big tariff announcements on April 2. ...
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Sajith Pai on India's Digital Divides
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , who is a Partner at , an early stage Indian venture fund. He is also a well known writer, and the author of the annual Indus Valley Report. We spoke about the trends in the latest Indus Valley Report, the stratifications in Indian consumer markets, investor sentiment, policies and infrastructure to foster the AI boom in India, the AI start-up scene and much more. Recorded March 6th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Follow on X Click for the latest Ideas of...
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Jasti Chelameswar on Constitutional Interpretation and Judicial Independence
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , who is a former justice of the Supreme Court of India. Prior to his elevation, he served as chief justice in High Courts in Gauhati and Kerala and as a justice in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. We spoke about his judgments on electoral qualifications, judicial conduct, transparency in judicial appointments, the constitutional right to privacy, separation of powers, and how dissent shapes constitutional interpretation, and much more. Recorded February 25th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X...
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Akshay Jaitly on India's Energy Sector Challenges, Reforms, and Future Pathways
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , one of the founders of Trilegal, one of India’s leading law firms. He specializes in advising on energy and infrastructure projects. His research interests include power sector reform, the energy transition and public-private contracting. We talked about the top-down nature of electricity regulation and pricing in India, the dysfunctional DISCOMS, the reforms required for an energy transition towards renewables and nuclear energy, and much more. Recorded February 11th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X...
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Christopher Coyne on War, Conflict, and the Quest for a Stable Peace
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , who is a Professor of at George Mason University, the Associate Director of the at the Mercatus Center. We talked about the economics of conflict and peace, history of the US security state, the US intervention in Afghanistan, domestic consequences of militarism abroad, and much more. Recorded January 15th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links, or watch the . Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Follow on X Click for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox.
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Katherine Schofield on The Hidden History of Music in Mughal India
Ideas of India
Today my guest who is a professor of South Asian Music and History at King’s College London. She is the author of the recent book . She also hosted a on the same theme. We talked about the history of classical music in India - from Natyasastra to Dhrupad and to khayals and qawallis. about Aurangzeb’s relationship with music, the sacking of Delhiand it’s influence on hindustani classical music, the powerful tawaifs of that time, and much more. Recorded January 24th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X...
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Anton Howes on Trade, Innovation, and the Forgotten History of Salt
Ideas of India
Today my guest is head of innovation research at The Entrepreneurs Network, and the historian-in-residence at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. He is the author of and the excellent Substack . We talked about salt trade in India, the Dutch culture of innovation, the Royal Society of Arts, endogenous versus O-ring theories of growth, why the Industrial Revolution took place in Britain, and much more. Recorded November 11th, 2024. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X...
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Anant Sudarshan on Market Solutions to Air Pollution, Energy Policy, and Ecological Disruption
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick and a Senior Fellow at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). We talked about air pollution in India, crop burning, subsidizing electricity, depleting ground water, the impact of the collapse of keystone species and much more. Recorded November 25th, 2024. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Follow on X Click for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox....
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2024 in Review
Ideas of India
Today the roles are reversed. Producer Dallas Floer interviews Shruti for the annual end of year episode where they look back at key themes and episodes from the past year, address listener questions, discuss the job market series, and share some questions from previous guests. On behalf of Shruti and the entire Ideas of India team, thank you for listening to the podcast this year. We’re excited to bring you more episodes in 2025. Recorded November 26th, 2024. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Click for the...
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Pravin Krishna on the Political Economy of Multilateral and Preferential Trade Agreements, Trade Liberalization, and the Future of Global Trade
Ideas of India
Today my guest is is the Chung Ju Yung Distinguished Professor of International Economics and Business at Johns Hopkins University, at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and Department of Economics. We talked about history of preferential trade agreements, India’s approach to trade liberalization, whether such agreements are trade creating or diverting, and much more. Recorded November 12th, 2024. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Follow on X Click for the latest Ideas of India...
info_outlineToday 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 the global business and economics correspondent 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.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
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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