Ideas of India

This episode is the third installment of a series in which Shruti speaks with doctoral candidates and postdoctoral scholars about their research as they enter the job market and the world of academia. In this episode, Shruti talks with Aliz Tóth about her job market paper, " My Way and the Highway: Embedded Bureaucrats and Bargaining over Land for Infrastructure ." They discuss the lack of trust b...

This episode is the second installment of a series in which Shruti speaks with doctoral candidates and postdoctoral scholars about their research as they enter the job market and the world of academia. In this episode, Shruti talks with Raahil Madhok about his job market paper, " The Development-Biodiversity Tradeoff in India's Forests ." They discuss the effects of different types of infrastructu...

This episode is the first installment of a series in which Shruti speaks with doctoral candidates and postdoctoral scholars about their research as they enter the job market and the world of academia. In this episode, Shruti talks with Nishant Vats about his job market paper (co-authored with Pulak Ghosh), "Safety Nets, Credit and Productive Activity: Evidence from a Guaranteed Income Program for...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross about their new book, " Talent: How To Identify Energizers, Creatives and Winners Around the World ." They discuss how to identify and attract talent, competition vs. cooperation, the necessity of failure and resilience, effects of immigration on talent and much more. Cowen is the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Mark Koyama and Jared Rubin about their new book, "How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth." They discuss the link between technological innovation and growth, the importance of global market competition, positive and negative effects of colonialism, the methodology of economic history and much more. Koyama is an associate professor...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Jennifer Murtazashvili about the problems with imposing liberal democracy in Afghanistan, building state capacity, education, the role of the U.S. in the Ghani government's collapse and much more. Murtazashvili is the founding director of the Center for Governance and Markets and an associate professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs a...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Ashwini Deshpande about caste discrimination in labor markets, the reservation system and its critiques, education of women, how endogamy perpetuates caste, Bollywood films and much more. Deshpande is a professor of economics and the founding director of the Centre for Economic Data and Analysis at Ashoka University. Her Ph. D. and early publications have been o...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Vinay Sitapati about Narasimha Rao's socialism, his working relationships with Manmohan Singh and others, how his skills as a translator were useful in his career, and much more. Sitapati is a political scientist, lawyer and journalist. He has a Ph. D. from Princeton University and degrees from Harvard University and the National Law School of India University,...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Saumitra Jha about medieval ports, competition versus complementarity, marriage endogamy, the effect of military experience on the prevalence of violence and much more. Jha is a professor in the political economy group at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a senior fellow at the Center for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law in the Freeman-Spogli In...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Lant Pritchett for a second time . They discuss internal and external migration, the concept of open borders, definitions of poverty, the flaws of randomized controlled trials and much more. Pritchett is a development economist from Idaho. He is currently affiliated with Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government as the research director of the  RISE Programme , is...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Adeel Hussain and Tripurdaman Singh about their book, " Nehru: The Debates That Defined India ." They discuss homogeneity in parliamentary democracies, tensions between liberalism and cultural traditions, the branches of the Indian and Pakistani governments and much more. Hussain is an assistant professor at Leiden University and a senior research affiliate at t...

Take our listener survey  here . In this episode, Shruti speaks with Naushad Forbes about his new book, " The Struggle and the Promise: Restoring India's Potential ." They discuss why Indian companies spend so little on R&D, how companies learn and innovate, protectionism vs. open markets, higher education reforms and much more. Forbes is the co-chairman of Forbes Marshall, India's leading steam e...

Take the listener survey In this episode, Shruti speaks with Barkha Dutt about her new book, " To Hell and Back: Humans of COVID ." They discuss the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the failures of the Indian state, the stories of Indian migrant workers, the decline of cable news and much more. Dutt is an Indian television journalist, author and owner of the YouTube news channel Mojo S...

Take our listener survey  here . In this episode, Shruti speaks with Anand Swamy and Tirthankar Roy about their new book, " Law and the Economy in a Young Democracy: India 1947 and Beyond ." They discuss India's colonial legacy, forest laws, problems with eminent domain, the messiness of Indian legislation and much more. Swamy is the Willmott Family Third Century Professor of Economics at Williams...

Take our listener survey here . In this episode, Shruti speaks with Ramachandra Guha about his latest book, " Rebels Against the Raj ." They discuss the influence of foreigners who renounced their native nationalities to become Indian, Gandhi's legacy, economic protectionism, constraints on free speech, cricket and much more. Guha is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intelle...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Lant Pritchett about economic convergence, academic skepticism about growth, flawed methodologies in development economics, the shortcomings of India's educational system and much more. Pritchett is a development economist from Idaho. He is currently affiliated with Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government as the research director of the  RISE Programme , is the...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Rajesh Veeraraghavan about his book, " Patching Development: Information Politics and Social Change in India ." They discuss the pros and cons of centralized welfare programs, why technology is not a cure-all, academia, Tamil comedy and much more. Veeraraghavan is an assistant professor of science, technology and international affairs at Georgetown University's...

In this episode, Shruti speaks with Rukmini about her book, " Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us About Modern India ." They discuss Indians' multifaceted identities, endogamy, preference falsification and much more. Rukmini is a data journalist who writes columns for Mint, IndiaSpend and other publications. She has also written for HuffPost India, The Hindu and The Tim...

In this episode, Shruti talks with Shrayana Bhattacharya about her book, " Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence ." They discuss the symbolic resonance of Indian film star Shah Rukh Khan, women's changing social and economic status in India, the importance of supportive communities of women, Delhi as a city in transition, and much mo...

In this episode, Shruti talks with Arvind Elangovan about his book, " Norms and Politics: Sir Benegal Narsing Rau in the Making of the Indian Constitution, 1935-50 ." They discuss the tensions surrounding the making of the Indian Constitution, the legacy of colonialism, the differing viewpoints of leaders such as Nehru and B.N. Rau and much more. Elangovan is an associate professor of history at W...

This episode is the twelfth in a miniseries of weekly short episodes featuring young scholars entering the academic job market who discuss their latest research. In this episode, Shruti talks with Radhika Jain about her job market paper, " Private Hospital Behavior Under Government Insurance: Evidence from Reimbursement Changes in India ." They discuss the Bhamashah Health Insurance Program in Raj...

This episode is the 11th in a miniseries of weekly short episodes featuring young scholars entering the academic job market who discuss their latest research. In this episode, Shruti talks with Apurav Yash Bhatiya about how voters behave in simultaneous versus sequential elections, possible reasons why they behave differently, politicians' use of the bully pulpit and much more. They discussed his...

This episode is the tenth in a miniseries of weekly short episodes featuring young scholars entering the academic job market who discuss their latest research. In this episode, Shruti talks with Dr. Archana Dang about her paper, " Role of Time Preferences in Explaining the Burden of Malnutrition: Evidence from Urban India ." They discuss India's double burden of over- and undernutrition, why finan...

This episode is the ninth in a miniseries of weekly short episodes featuring young scholars entering the academic job market who discuss their latest research. In this episode, Shruti talks with Kim Fe Cramer about her job market paper, " Bank Presence and Health ." They discuss how access to banking and credit benefits health, why those benefits happen, whether healthcare should be subsidized and...

This episode is the eighth in a miniseries of weekly short episodes featuring young scholars entering the academic job market who discuss their latest research. In this episode, Shruti and Karan Babbar talk about his job market paper, " COVID-19 and Period Products Usage Among Menstruating Women in Urban and Rural India ." They discuss access to feminine hygiene products, effects of the pandemic o...