This is Nitin Pai's cyberspace.
The Acorn
Estd 2003
Recent posts:
Swadeshi in a free society
In the Indian Public Policy Review, I present the very interesting economic history of Swadeshi and self-reliance and uncover some very unexpected facts. This post is an excerpt from the concluding part of the paper. | 2nd Jul 2021
The Bangalore Model of Civic Engagement
I conceptualise the “Bangalore Model of Civic Engagement" that many technocrats, activists, philanthropists and civic leaders have helped shape; and explain why it is different, what makes it possible, and where it is falling short. | 28th Jun 2021
Reimagining social security for the 21st century
The most effective way will be for the government to enable a multi-contributor model that brings whole of society into supporting the needy. | 23rd Jun 2021
The world should fight the pandemic as one
In early 2020, there was a chance to use the pandemic crisis as an opportunity to shape global cooperation that could then form the basis for a new world order. | 21st Jun 2021
Moving Indians out of agriculture
It has almost been 150 years since we recognised that to achieve sustained economic growth Indians must shift from agriculture to industry. | 19th Jun 2021
Human capital and national power
The biggest change to India's national power in the next decade will come from changes in human capital | 18th Jun 2021
The banal geopolitical fallout of the laboratory leak hypothesis
Perhaps Xi Jinping is right, and like it or not, China will be even more indispensable to the post-covid world. | 6th Jun 2021
Focus on maximising the vaccination rate
Let’s say Melon Rusk, one of the world’s richest billionaires, approaches the Indian government and makes an offer to deliver 2 billion doses of a covid vaccine within 2 months for ₹2 trillion. Should the government take the offer? | 24th May 2021
The urgent need for administrative re-engineering
Unless we reform how India is governed, the structures, processes and culture of government, we will continue to be disappointed by what the system actually delivers. | 10th May 2021
Goodbye and good riddance to board examinations
To the extent that board exams have any useful role in education itself, there are cheaper and less harmful alternatives that can replace exams. | 25th Apr 2021
Vaccination certificates need a framework to govern their use
India has done well so far to take the future-ready middle path of providing vaccination certificates without taking a position on their use. It is now time to put in place a framework to govern their use. | 11th Apr 2021
Why my estimates for the second wave of Covid-19 were wrong
While I had qualified my assessment with a few caveats, I was wrong to expect that the second wave will be “small” in several cities and districts. I did not anticipate that people would so quickly relax their guard, engage in large gatherings and visit crowded places. | 7th Apr 2021
Direct vaccination to spike the surge
Instead of pursuing a progressive nationwide expansion of vaccination prioritized by age-groups, the Narendra Modi government should open up vaccination to all adults in cities and districts where there is a surge in new covid cases. | 29th Mar 2021
Fukushima’s lesson is the need for effective nuclear regulation
If India’s nuclear industry is government-run for the foreseeable future, then it is all the more important to restructure its governance. | 14th Mar 2021
Privatisation should not ignore the equity dimension
For privatization to be successful, widely accepted and in the public interest, stakeholder mapping should be vastly expanded to cover all sections of society that will be affected by the reforms | 28th Feb 2021
Without the private sector, India’s vaccination rate will be sub-optimal
The current pace of India’s vaccination programme is, paradoxically, both impressive and inadequate. To be effective, it must be ramped up 10-20 times, so that 80 per cent of the population can be protected by the end of the year. | 23rd Feb 2021
Social media is an existential threat to civilisation
This threat is greater and more urgent than that presented by climate change, artificial intelligence, nuclear war, pandemics and terrorism. | 21st Feb 2021
Regarding the military disengagement at Pangong Tso
It is hard to say how long the Chinese side will abide by these terms, after having seen the utility of transgressions in pushing the envelope. | 18th Feb 2021
India must address South East Asian concerns
India’s foreign policy establishment must not miss opportunities to set up economic and maritime cooperation with ASEAN | 14th Feb 2021
Dealing with another coup in Myanmar
For New Delhi, the challenge will be to break out of two popular mind traps: First, that supporting Aung San Suu Kyi is uniformly in India’s interests, and second, that not backing the generals will throw Myanmar into China’s camp. | 9th Feb 2021
Heroic privatisation targets in this year’s Union Budget
The Modi government would do well to stay away from the failed economic policies of the Indira Gandhi and Morarji Desai governments, and find a different route to Atmanirbhar Bharat. | 2nd Feb 2021
What we must regulate when we regulate social media platforms
Public policy should seek to prevent the concentration of narrative rather than market power in social media companies | 31st Jan 2021
A republic on a pedestal vs a republic in daily practice
Yet the sum total of our actions leaves the republic weaker by the day. The crumbling started a couple of generations ago, slowly at first. Now, it is in a landslide. | 26th Jan 2021
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