Viswanathan K's Thoughts

In economics, there’s a theory called “trickle-down economics”. It goes something like this – since it isn’t possible to know or make changes that can benefit huge number of people, the alternative can be to change policies to make a decent number of people much better off than before. Hopefully, if they are large enough in number, they will spend their extra money in ways that create more jobs for other people. A larger middle class that gets better off buys more discretionary items, eats out more, hires maids and drivers, you get the idea – that’s trickle- down economics, the economic benefits “trickle down” from one set to others.   Politicians everywhere understand that this can work in theory. They also understand this is a practical option since it aims to improve the economic situation of a small set, rather than everyone’s condition (which while desirable is impractical). But, in politics, and especially in democracies, politicians also have to worry about 2 risks with ...

Biden continues to escalate the American trade war with China by increasing the tariffs on goods made in China, from steel and aluminium to EV’s (electric vehicles) to solar panels apart from, of course, denial of high-end semiconductor chips. Trump promises such and even more stringent measures if he comes to power.   Raghu S Jaitley correctly says that in an election year, American politicians will only try and out-do each other in what they say and do. In a polarized country like America, the reactions are also totally predictable – the right says Biden is too soft on China; while the left says that Trump’s measures would be taking things too far and would hurt America. Only their own side knows the right course of action on China.   Jaitley evaluates the consequences of such American tariff policies, on both America itself and on China.   He looks at America. First , if they try and de-couple themselves from China, they need to build up alternate manufact...

Alok Prasanna Kumar wrote two informative pieces on the Election Commission of India (EC). When the constitution was being framed, there was a debate whether each state should have its own EC to oversee state/assembly elections. Why was such an option even considered? Some wanted it since they favoured a federal structure, while others argued it would be impractical for the Center to conduct state elections. “Biswanath Das pointed to the logistical difficulties of conducting an election at the state level without involving state governments and therefore, he argued, state elections should be left to the states. ”   The 1948 draft of the constitution called for multiple EC’s, at national and state levels. Remember the drafts and contents of the constitution were debated in the Constituent Assembly (CA) – so how what changed their mind by the time the constitution was framed in 1950? Kumar’s second article answers that. In 1949, during the CA debates on the constitution, Ambe...

In the last blog in the series, let us look at different perspectives on the lack of definition for the term “life”, from Carl Zimmer’s Life’s Edge . One view is the one expressed by Radu Popa: “A science in which the most important object has no definition? That’s absolutely unacceptable.”   Others don’t see a problem. Let each set (NASA, microbiologists, physicians) have their own definition, they say – its impact, in any case, is limited to their area of research. As you might have imagined, not everyone takes that view.   Some philosophers point out that so many day to day terms have no definition either, yet we use them without confusion. Ludwig Wittgenstein asked: “How, for example, would you answer the question, “What are games?” Games. Some have winners and losers, others don’t. Some have tokens, others card, and yet other tools in other games. For some games, the players get paid; for others, they pay to play. And yet, as Zimmer points out: “However, w...

It needed the mobile phone to create a serious increase in tele-density in India. Then, of course, the smartphone caused the numbers to explode. But, Montek Singh Ahluwalia points out in Backstage , long before those two transformational events in telecom, there was another game changer in India.   In 1987, Sam Pitroda was appointed telecom secretary. Remember, this was the era of landlines only. Expanding the tele-density was a desirable but nearly impossible task. After all, laying telecom lines was very expensive, and it needed electricity. The needle moved slowly, from 0.39 to 0.52 (that’s an increase from 0.39 phones per 100 people to 0.52 phones per 100) between 1985 and 1989.   New ideas were desperately needed. The solution they came up with was to license privately owned telephone booths, where calls would have a fixed cost, anyone could use them to make calls, and a percentage of the call charge would go to the booth operator. The STD booths were born, and he...

More and more Western countries have an ageing problem. Increasing ratio of retired to working people. Which translates into rising pension and healthcare bills (to be paid by the state). Addressing it isn’t easy. Attempts to persuade people to have more babies haven’t worked. Increasing taxes to pay those pension/ healthcare bills only causes younger people to leave the country.   Vasco Queiros talks of how Portugal, the second oldest country in Europe, is faring. Half the population is dependent on the state in one or the other way: “35% are retirees, 10% government workers, and another 5% receive either unemployment benefits or integration benefits.”   Policies are further skewed by the fact that senior citizens are reliable voters, while young people aren’t. And seniors vote to ensure pension and healthcare needs are taken care of. Put amusingly, seniors go to the ballot box while young people vote with their feet, i.e., leave the country.   To summariz...

The lack of a definition to a term, as we know all too well, is a problem when dealing with governments. NASA, for example, wanted to search for life in space. For that, it needed a definition of life, writes Carl Zimmer in Life’s Edge . NASA came up with this: “Life is a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution.” That sounds right, even if a bit heavy on technical language.   But… the well-known exception is the good old virus. It doesn’t eat. It doesn’t grow in size. It doesn’t even reproduce – instead, it hijacks a living organism’s cellular machinery to make copies of itself. Viruses then are a headache for definition seekers. They have some characteristics, while lacking others.   Think of the good old RBC’s – red blood cells. They transport oxygen through the body. As anyone at a blood bank will tell you, blood has a life span of storage. “If something has a life span, surely it has a life.” And yet, be many definitions, RB...