The Price of Clean Air
At 7 AM, a construction worker in Delhi checks his phone. The air outside is hazardous, but the bigger question is whether he
Archives
Crops, Machines and Credit Scores
Does debt relief in India depend on what you can pay, or on who you are? Imagine three people who cannot repay their
Rainbow Economy: The Queer Community’s Power Over The Indian Economy
An estimated 140 million people in India identify as LGBTQ+, a population size that exceeds that of major global nations, yet whose basic
Is Globalisation Retreating, or Is It Just Changing Shape?
Over time, we might see a more separated world as more and more countries aim to be self-reliant to best serve themselves, even
Birkin, Louboutin, Labubu: Which One Will Your Parents Forgive?
Introduction On a lazy Sunday, a 24-year-old is going through the various luxury consignment apps and is making the case that a ₹2
The Choice We Never Make
The Gym Card in Your Wallet Somewhere in a drawer, or perhaps still in your wallet, there is probably a membership you meant
Plan B Isn’t Free
Every option we keep “just in case” comes with a price, even when we don’t notice paying it. This piece explains why that
From Straits to Semiconductors
Quantifying the Transformation of Chokepoints in Modern Networked Interdependence Introduction Historically, strategic chokepoints were defined by their physical geography, with maritime corridors like
The Labour of Love: Why We Overvalue What We Build
Imagine that you spend your entire weekend building a bookshelf all on your own. It is not totally perfect; perhaps it is a
Choice Architecture in Quick Commerce: Evaluating the Influence and Potential Gains of Single-Digit Deals
Shopping on quick commerce applications has become a daily endeavor for most households in India these days. This is inferred from the estimated
The Value of Being Inefficient in a Machine-made World
We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And
The ₹5 Trap: Do Micropacks Democratise Consumption or Deepen the Poverty Premium?
What is the price of not having ₹150? At the local kirana store, the answer may come in a ₹5 packet. A larger
The sky is pink, or are we wearing rose-coloured glasses?
It feels like anything today can be contrasted with the economic state of the past, focusing on how everything was “more affordable” and
When Competition Ceases to Be Competitive
The presence of choice does not equal the ability to make one. There can be lots of different brands available in a market,
Why the costliest choice the poor make is to leave their poverty behind?
Throughout the evolution of the human race, we have found ourselves repeatedly confronted by paradoxes. We build walls to protect ourselves, only to
Off the Books
“25 din mein paisa double” Oftentimes, individuals who trade in the stock market have one objective: to earn large amounts of money overnight.
Internationalisation of the Rupee with Selective Liberalisation of the Capital Accounts
Introduction Conventional monetary economics holds a firm sequencing logic, i.e, a currency can only achieve international status after its home economy liberalises the
The Invisible Ledger: How Gender Became An Economic Variable
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.” – Virginia Woolf, A
Fires in the Fashion Industry
Fast Fashion At least 80 billion garments are produced globally every year. That is ten times the population of the world. The culprit?
The Wealth Tax Question: A Good Idea That Keeps Going Wrong
Every few years, a version of the same idea resurfaces in political debate: if governments simply taxed the wealth of the very rich,
