The Price of Oil and the Wages of Stupidity

I have argued in the past that India is poor by choice — not by necessity, nor by a heavenly compulsion, or a divine thrusting upon, or an enforced obedience of planetary influences [1].

“Of course, that does not mean that every poor Indian has chosen to be poor. Someone else in a position of power made choices whose consequences are evident. India’s leaders – past and present – have consistently made choices that have had, and are having, a disastrous effect on the lives of hundreds of millions of human beings.” [From a post made in June five years ago.]

Criminal Lawmakers?

According to a report in today’s Rediff on Karnataka’s new government, many of the members of the legislative assembly (or MLAs, those who make the laws of the state) are criminals. The report leads off with details of what the personal wealth of some of the MLAs are but later, almost as an afterthought, mentions that many have criminal charges pending against them:

Industrialization and Urbanization in India

Regulars know that I am obsessed with solar power, rail transportation, and urbanization. Reserve your copy of the book today! 🙂

I had a chat with Daniel Altman the other day at my office and his blog at the International Herald Tribune has this entry today:

India and Manufacturing

Daniel Altman begins his column in the International Herald Tribune (June 3rd, 2008) “India seeks it owns path as a manufacturing powerhouse” with:

For a few years now, a facile dichotomy has made the rounds in economic circles: Among developing countries, China means manufacturing and India means services. Yet several leaders of the public and private sector in India see the country’s road to riches leading through manufacturing as well.