Artha

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli. And a dose of econ, tech, history.

[Artha @ar7ha]

It’d be funny if this is Modi just front running some inevitable peace announcement as tit-for-tat for Trump’s mediation claim, without actually doing very much.

[Narendra Modi @narendramodi]

Glad to speak with President Zelenskyy and hear his perspectives on recent developments. I conveyed India’s consistent position on the need for an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict. India remains committed to making every possible contribution in this regard, as well as to further strengthening bilateral ties with Ukraine.

@ZelenskyyUA

[Artha @ar7ha]

@cvkrishnan Bezos and Zuck bent the knee and showed up for the inauguration

[Artha @ar7ha]

@ritwik_priya One of my pet peeves. So much low hanging fruit for labor productivity everywhere you look. Forklifts, hand trucks, power drills, cutters, etc - a century old, cheap technology. Can’t complain about wage inflation and yet not invest in basic productivity tools and training.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@Akshay_VAK 2. His utility diminishes if he’s seen as govt rep vs oppn. Not much more to these assignments IMO than Modi finding a way to use a willing ST’s unique but limited talents given dearth of such talent in BJP. Recent junket was low stakes trial run. This one is the first gig.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@Akshay_VAK Plus his “The route to peace is through strength” framing offers a less warmonger-y basis to demand the same sacrifices if needed

[Artha @ar7ha]

@Akshay_VAK Having achieved notoriety for the mantra, this is just him preempting accusations of hypocrisy by cleverly carving out a terrorism exception is all, I think

[Artha @ar7ha]

@somnath1978 Raj Thackeray and his recently productive goons say hello :)

[Artha @ar7ha]

@swarajk_ And a racially, ethnically homogenous population in a high trust society vs one that is riven by racial strife

[Artha @ar7ha]

@Frankisalegend1 Democracy is designed to limit downside from mad kings, by giving up upside from benevolent dictators. So no Great Leap Forward catastrophes, but no 12% GDP growth either.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@hankgreen Succinct (especially in the US)

[Artha @ar7ha]

@satoverma What then would you say is the new objective behind this change, if forging a common identity is no longer it? Also, this would in fact qualify as a significant shift, wouldn’t it?

[Artha @ar7ha]

@Hardism Possibly true, but a win in MH, some well targeted khatakat, and a small security win can very quickly revive sentiment and brand.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@Saiarav Just poor comms from the finmin, both pre and post. For weeks before the budget, every major newspaper ran speculative pieces about tax cuts. Would’ve been easy for the minister or a proxy to temper expectations, at least off record, with a simple rationale. Too haughty and rigid

[Artha @ar7ha]

@Frankisalegend1 Another missed gotcha: she kept calling on the wisdom of the founders in insisting on birth citizenship, so he should’ve asked why she thought they didn’t stipulate a WASP condition for presidents, given there already were plenty of Dutch and other ancestries present.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@shrikanth_krish The main gating factor for elite schools is class, not caste. Plenty of OBCs in these schools already. And if class inequity is what the state wants to fight, it’d be better off targeting that directly vs using caste as a proxy. The link between the two is increasingly tenuous.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@Akshay_VAK @swarajk_ But the higher stakes and power at state level haven’t attracted better talent there vs central governments. Everything owned by the states generally sucks today, a big capacity issue. Unclear to me how more devolution to cities magically fixes that.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@swarajk_ Studwell’s theory is that gains come from moving to smaller holdings, but only when there’s also a shift from landlords-tenants to small landowners, and with govt. led improvements in farm inputs, credit and marketing. Sans all that, just smaller holdings have limited benefit.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@unraveaero Batu caves. Beautiful temple and views up those stairs. This must’ve been 2005-6.

[Artha @ar7ha]

A decent econ journalist would’ve called him out by asking: 1) Which part of the world economy outside the US does he think is doing well? 2) Which segments of the Indian economy are being helped by this mythical global economy on a tear, given our export performance? Alas.

[Press Trust of India @PTI_News]

EXCLUSIVE | VIDEO: "When you talk about economic performance, I think we have to always take the good news and celebrate. But we also have to put the good news in context, right. So if you look at why we have done so well this year, one of the reasons we are doing so well is also because the world is doing well. And that is good news for the world...The other reason for this very strong growth in the first half is tremendous government spending on infrastructure," former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan tells @PTI_News on the sharp uptick in GDP in the first half of the current fiscal.

[Artha @ar7ha]

@elmihiro For Quad