Anticipating the Unintended

India Policy Watch #1: Nayi Umar Ki Purani Fasal   Insights on burning policy issues in India — RSJ PM Modi, in an address to the nation at 9 AM on Friday, repealed the three farm laws that had been pushed through in the parliament without any debate more than a year ago. Choosing the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, the PM said his government was unable to convince the farmers about the benefits o...

Not(PolicyWTF): Reforming Procurement (Sanjeev Kumar Must Be Smiling)   Pleasant surprises in policymaking in India — RSJ Since we take great pleasure in highlighting policy screw-ups around here, it is only fair we appreciate measures that aren’t PolicyWTFs when they make an occasional appearance on our landscape like rare migratory birds. Last week we had one such sighting. ( Deep breath ). The...

India Policy Watch: Countering Wokeism  Insights on burning policy issues in India — RSJ You know a term has entered the zeitgeist when it reaches your family WhatsApp group that’s kept alive by aunts and uncles forwarding every dubious message that confirms their biases. So, when I received a message on the group that urged us to celebrate this Diwali with firecrackers to show the ‘wokes’ their p...

India Policy Watch #1: What Outrage Means  Insights on burning policy issues in India — RSJ Last week while writing about the Fabindia Diwali ad and the accompanying outrage, I wrote that this ‘arms race of purity’ might become a familiar feature in our cultural landscape. This week we got this : “Homegrown FMCG player Dabur has withdrawn its advertisement on Karva Chauth showing a lesbian couple...

Back with a new edition of this newsletter. We spent the past 5 weeks trying to work on a few long pending items that needed our attention. Unsurprisingly, the earth went on spinning and nobody missed us. Not much work got done either. Anyway, things happened in these intervening weeks. We reached a billion vaccine jabs last week. Quite an achievement. We often lament about the ineffective state a...

Programming Note: We are brewing another writing project. Since it demands some undivided attention (haha, so naïve!) we will not be posting for the next five weeks. We will republish a few of our older posts, maybe a few links and brief notes every week till then. Regular programming resumes on 23rd October 2021. Global Policy Watch #1: 9/11, Toynbee and Civilisations  Bringing an Indian perspect...

Matsyanyaaya : Not So Great Game Theory in Afghanistan Big fish eating small fish = Foreign Policy in action — Guest Post by Ameya Naik US intelligence agencies considered it likely that the Taliban would retake control of all or most of Afghanistan following US withdrawal. Their estimate, however, was that this would take weeks or even months; the idea that Kabul would fall in a matter of days wa...

Matsyanyaaya #1 : What Does Pakistan’s Cadmean Victory in Afghanistan Mean for India Big fish eating small fish = Foreign Policy in action — Pranay Kotasthane (This is a draft of my article which appeared first in Times of India’s Tuesday, August 23rd edition .) Taliban's takeover of Kabul is forcing India to reassess its aims and objectives concerning Afghanistan. Of primary interest is the impac...

India Policy Watch: Chinese Checkers Insights on burning policy issues in India -  RSJ We often write about China here. And we make three points: * China is a model of authoritarian state-driven capitalism. There should be no illusion anymore it will turn into a liberal democracy as its citizens gain greater economic freedom. The Party will find new market demons to slay to send out a convincing m...

Programming Note: We will be taking off next week. We will return on Aug 22. Not(PolicyWTF): Retrospective Admission Of A Mistake This section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen? -  RSJ On Thursday, the Finance Minister tabled the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which sought to scrap the tax claims raised on the back of an amendment to t...

Global Policy Watch: Ud Jayega Bezos Akela* Bringing an Indian perspective to burning global issues -  RSJ Homo sapiens first went to space in 1961. 60 years later, a new species, decidedly less superior than Homo sapiens, has succeeded in going to space. Billionaires. Remarkable. So, what should we make of it? A Race To Nowhere There are three arguments against the space race among billionaires....

India Policy Watch #1: A Winged Horse And A Prison   Insights on burning policy issues in India - RSJ Heh! Let’s start in the most unoriginal way possible: Behind Winston’s back the voice from the telescreen was still babbling away….. The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so lo...

Matsyanyaaya : The Rational Actor Trap Big fish eating small fish = Foreign Policy in action — Pranay Kotasthane Nothing succeeds like success. Once you are perceived as being successful, new narratives emerge that trace a neat path explaining how success was attained through grit, foresight, and determination. The role of chance fades in the background. All stories show how the hero withstood the...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   Pranay was on this week’s The Seen and the Unseen discussing all things public policy with ace podcaster, writer and thinker,...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   India Policy Watch: प Se Pew. प Se Pluralism   Insights on burning policy issues in India - RSJ I’m sure by now most of you wo...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   India Policy Watch #1: Satyam Eva Jayate?   Insights on burning policy issues in India - RSJ We often talk about truth, disinf...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   Global Policy Watch: G7@Cornwall: Return Of A Rules-Based International Order?   Bringing an Indian perspective to burning glo...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   India Policy Watch: Road Ahead   Insights on burning policy issues in India - RSJ What’s next for the Indian economy? Here’s a...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   India Policy Watch: The Demarcation Between Science And Ramdev   Insights on burning policy issues in India - RSJ Event 1: May...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   Global Policy Watch: Global Order - Where Will It Come From?  Bringing an Indian perspective to burning global issues - RSJ A...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   India Policy Watch #1: Jabki Dimaag Khaali Hai (While The Mind Is Empty)  Insights on burning policy issues in India - RSJ The...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   India Policy Watch: Radically Networked Succour Insights on burning policy issues in India — Pranay Kotasthane When the going...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   PolicyWTF: Our Democracy In Wave 2  This section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that...

Programming Note : We are taking a short break. Back on May 2. Stay safe. While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   PolicyWTF: Winging the Pandemic This section looks a...

While excellent newsletters on specific themes within public policy already exist, this thought letter is about frameworks, mental models, and key ideas that will hopefully help you think about any public policy problem in imaginative ways. Audio narration by  Ad-Auris .   - RSJ By now many of you must have seen the pictures from the Kumbh at Haridwar . Till last evening, almost 3 million devotees...