Ajay Shah writing for the mass media (2023)
- Vaccines from first principles, Episode 27 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 29 December 2023. kw = market failure, vaccines, positive externality, use of state compulsion, disease eradication
- The forces reshaping banking, 25 December 2023. kw = banking, fintech, runs, IT giants, Indian financial reform.
- When should the state act, Episode 26 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 22 December 2023. kw = market failure, implementation constraints, four-tests for problem complexity
- Understanding the state, Episode 25 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 15 December 2023. kw = Defining the state, coercion, taxation, monopoly of violence
- Vast profits for unpleasant people?, 11 December 2023. kw = insider trading, terrorist attacks, invasions, surveillance at the exchange.
- Fixing the knowledge society, Episode 24 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 8 December 2023. kw = sociology of knowledge, credentialism, journal orientation
- Seven stories that should be films, Episode 23 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 1 December 2023. kw = memorable stories from history
- The policy questions for airlines, 27 November 2023. kw = market failure, non-intrusive intervention, protectionism, regulation, Indian regulatory theory, APIs with public access and not apps or websites, technology policy.
- Three great leaps by firms, Episode 22 of Everything is everything, 24 November 2023. kw = Sun Microsystems, Google, Android, Amazon, Cloud computing, The culture of innovation, firm expansion, economies of scale, economies of scope.
- The beauty of finance, Episode 21 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 17 November 2023. kw = economic history of finance, what impeded islamic countries in the emergence of modern finance
- The dangers of digital public infrastructure, an episode on the podcast Brave New World by Vasant Dhar, 16 November 2023. kw = public goods, central planning, premature state legibility, premature state control, protectionism, national champions.
- The power of more work hours, 13 November 2023. kw = ascetisicm for the young, master/apprentice, management in organisations, fire fighting, mobilising inputs, the gap between poor and rich countries, institutions.
- Our population is our greatest asset, Episode 20 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 10 November 2023. kw = population density is not correlated with prosperity, population is not correlated with prosperity, sharp decline in Indian fertility, sex ratio, optimism, non-traditional family structures, surrogacy.
- How to think about cricket (and life), Episode 19 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 3 November 2023. kw = expected value, selectors, principal-agent problems, T20.
- Solving the intermittency of renewables by Akshay Jaitly and Ajay Shah, 29 October 2023. kw = price system, price volatility, regulated rate of return, discovery not design.
- What's wrong with Indian agriculture?, Episode 18 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 27 October 2023.
- The Three Globalizations, Episode 17 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 20 October 2023.
- Surging global military production, 15 October 2023. kw = ukraine war, hamas, Gaza, India, defence economics.
- The China Model is Broken, Episode 16 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 13 October 2023. kw = liberal democracy, freedom, capitalism, authoritarians, central planning, central control.
- Math Is Better Than the Brigadier's Girlfriend, Episode 15 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 6 October 2023. kw = C R Rao, intuition into statistics, the Indian knowledge ecosystem.
- The firms of middle India, 2 October 2023. kw = unproductive firms, operating in the Indian policy environment, drag on growth, capital stock destruction.
- The state of the Ukraine war, Episode 14 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 29 September 2023, kw = Ukraine, Counter-offensive, outlook, military strategy, Russia, Putin.
- What Bruce Springsteen means to us, Episode 13 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 23 September 2023. kw = Bruce Springsteen, writing, Nobel prize in literature.
- A conversation on firms on the Soul searching podcast with Ryan Dsouza, 23 September 2023.
- Growth needs more electricity by Akshay Jaitly and Ajay Shah, 18 September 2023, kw = state level electricity policy, limitations of adding renewables into the old grid, a choke point for economic growth.
- India's Massive Pensions Crisis, an episode on the podcast The seen and the unseen with Renuka Sane, Amit Varma and Ajay Shah, 18 September 2023. kw = NPS, OPS, policy process, economic history.
- Nothing is Indian! Everything is Indian!, Episode 12 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 15 September 2023. kw = culture, food, ethnocentrism, language, architecture.
- Talking public policy with Ajay Shah on Shortcast over Coffee, 12 September 2023. kw = XKDR Forum, climate change.
- The Greatest Productivity Mantra: Kaator Re Bhaaji!, Episode 11 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 8 September 2023. kw = get things done, roam research, Emacs org mode, Unix.
- Constraining leviathan: What can Parliamentary law do?, 8 September 2023. kw = money bills, FRBM, fiscal responsibility, fiscal rules.
- Preparing for a changing monsoon, 4 September 2023. kw = climate change, monsoon, price system for food, land market, migration, climate justice.
- Why freedom matters, Episode 10 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 1 September 2023. kw = freedom, prosperity, Indian economic history from 1869 to 2011.
- How I reversed my Type 2 diabetes, Episode 9 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 25 August 2023. kw = sugar, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM).
- Doing better than a competitive examination by Nitin Pai and Ajay Shah, 21 August 2023. kw = IIT JEE, item response theory, lottery allocation, test prep.
- Why Talent Comes in Clusters, Episode 8 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 18 August 2023. kw = clusters of talent, training wheels for state power, CTA, Tibet, Taiwan, Germany
- The rise of the Indian firm, a conversation with Akshay Jaitly, 14 August 2023. kw = the emergence of capable Indian firms, questions on firms.
- Vitalik Buterin Fights the Dragon-Tyrant, an episode on the podcast The seen and the unseen with Amit Varma and Ajay Shah, 14 August 2023. kw = Ethereum, decentralisation, digital economy.
- Newton the Alchemist. Gandhi the Black Swan, Episode 7 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 11 August 2023. kw = Isaac Newton, Gandhiji, Keynes
- Why gig work matters by Maitreesh Ghatak and Ajay Shah, 7 August 2023. kw = gig work, urban NREGS, flexibility of labour supply.
- The incredible insights of Bastiat and Hayek, Episode 6 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 4 August 2023. kw = Frederic Bastiat, Friedrich Hayek, self organising systems.
- My hero, Oppenheimer, Episode 5 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 28 July 2023. kw = Christopher Nolan, Robert Oppenheimer.
- Many Indian firms need more leverage, 24 July 2023. kw = corporate finance, optimal levels of debt, the great Indian deleveraging.
- An episode on Jack of all knowledge with Divyanshu Dembi, 23 July 2023. kw = building knowledge, credentialism, the Indian state, long-term possibilities for India.
- The wrong way to fight extremists, Episode 4 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 21 July 2023. kw = OPEC: The Cartel that Couldn't, Roving Bandits and Guerrilla Warfare, Ajay recommends a book every businessman should read, Amit talks about the pinnacle of cinematic storytelling.
- The economic cost of small internet shutdowns by Ajay Shah and Karthik Suresh on BloombergQuint, 18 July. kw = sand in the wheels of the most important industry.
- Are you just one version of yourself?, Episode 3 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 14 July 2023. kw = The Pinkness of Jaipur, Investigation, Prosecution, Fairplay, Amit recommends primers on classical liberalism, Ajay debunks Hydroponics.
- An Indian view on dollar domination, 10 July 2023. kw = USD, JPY, EUR, RMB, MIFC, revisionist powers, third globalisation, internationalisation of the rupee
- Is the singularity near?, Episode 2 of Everything is everything (with Amit Varma), 8 July 2023. kw = Why this show is named Everything is Everything, Is AI intelligent?, large language models, Deepmind's work on problems like chess or sorting, AI ethics, a Feminist and a Monster, a better masala chai, the third host.
- Halfway from coal, halfway to diamond, Episode 1 of Everything is Everything (with Amit Varma), 30 June 2023. kw = Good snakes and bad snakes, why seagulls are bastards, uncles and anti-uncles, why aggressively conventional-minded people hold us back, the joys of reading, dogs in the nightime and a great rock band embracing their age.
- A deep dive into Ukraine vs. Russia, an episode on the podcast The seen and the unseen by Amit Varma, 26 June 2023. kw = Russia, Ukraine, War, History, Global economic impact, Wagner rebellion.
- LLM impact for India, 26 June 2023. kw = LLM, productivity, process design, labour market, computer programming, learning impact.
- Monetary policy, global and local, 12 June 2023. kw = monetary policy, inflation, RBI, US Fed, Ukraine war, INR depreciation.
- Better numbers in private investment projects, 29 May 2023. kw = private investment projects under implementation, turning point after long decline, growth episodes.
- Information warfare and its limitations, 15 May 2023. kw = information warfare, LLMs, human defences, subscription based media, proximity to power, Sanjay Rai Sherpuria.
- Cross-border activities in India need more freedom, not less by Pratik Datta and Ajay Shah in the BloombergQuint, 8 May 2023. kw = current account convertibility, capital account convertibility, IT revolution, LRS, TDS on LRS.
- Exporting into a world that has carbon taxes by Akshay Jaitly and Ajay Shah, 1 May 2023. kw = EU, CBAM, carbon tax, electricity reform, location choices of firms.
- The path to capable Indian firms, 17 April 2023. kw = capable Indian firms connecting into globalisation, round tripping, minimum public float.
- Is the current regulatory system equipped to deal with AI?, an episode along with Apar Gupta on the The Hindu Parley podcast by Prashanth Perumal J., 14 April 2023. kw = LLM, AI, competition policy, state power, checks and balances.
- Improving incentives for airport managers in India by Ajay Shah and Karthik Suresh in the BloombergQuint, 14 February 2023. kw = airports, data release, accountability, incentives, regulated monopolies.
- SVB, Banking and the State of the Economy, an episode along with Mohit Satyanand on the podcast The seen and the unseen by Amit Varma, 3 April 2023. kw = SVB, bank resolution, payments system, crypto currency, state of the economy.
- The importance of services exports, 3 April 2023. kw = difficulties of goods exports, success in services exports, new facts, root cause analysis.
- Safety in the storm, 20 March 2023. kw = current account deficit, low investment, reduced complexities in capital import at the time of global uncertainty.
- The roots of global success, 6 March 2023. kw = Indians leading global organisations, the cultural package for leadership, China, IITs.
- CO2 arbitrage will make heroes, 20 February 2023. kw = pollution arbitrage, carbon border tax, strategic vs. execution orientation.
- How many national champions are required? by Akshay Jaitly and Ajay Shah in the BloombergQuint, 13 February 2023. kw = national champions, aggregate private investment in infrastructure, barriers to investment.
- Uncertainty has declined, 6 February 2023. kw = covid, invasion of ukraine, DM macro policy tightening, China, uncertainty has gone down, there is acute pain in some areas, now business plans can be made with more sensible input prices, restoration of normalcy.
- Influence operations in India by state actors, 23 January 2023. kw = influence operations using the Internet, Russia, authoritarian countries, Indian point of view.
- How countries treat their rich, 9 January 2023. kw = rule of law, ultra rich, capital flowing uphill, third globalisation, expropriation.
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