My latest Mint column, in print today, argues that the US was conceived by its founders as an oligarchic republic, not a democracy, and vestiges remain today -- most notably, in the arcane selection process for the US President. Those who say Trump or Sanders are "unfit to govern" might as well say they prefer oligarchy to democracy.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/G6id6XYcJUqlMLSWP9IQJP/The-truth-of-democracy.html

In today's Mint on Sunday, I offer a detailed, research-based critique of the proposed widespread use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in economics and public policy.

http://mintonsunday.livemint.com/news/the-experimental-turn-in-economics/2.4.3926705564.html

Delighted to be co-leading a major new research project, joint between NITI Aayog, Government of India, and the IDFC Institute, on improving the ease of doing business in India.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/niti-aayog-idfc-institute-to-conduct-survey-on-ease-of-biz-116011700609_1.html

In Mint, I argue that imposing restrictions on who is eligible to stand for office is corrosive of the democratic principle itself.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/hEQyvGVO7VHh96NYRlMUoK/Testing-direct-democracy.html

James Dean and I in conversation on the "paradoxes of debt". (YouTube, 15 mins)

https://youtu.be/BGgH7VNW3U4

Friend and co-author James Dean speaks on three "paradoxes of [sovereign] debt" at an IDFC Institute roundtable seminar I moderated recently in Mumbai. [YouTube, 1''08"]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piV3-zUAyXE

In a letter to the editor of the Economist, Rajeev Dehejia and I criticize an overly enthusiastic leader on using RCTs in public policy, and point to their methodological limitations -- in particular, the statistical issue of "external validity" or "generalizability".

http://www.economist.com/news/letters/21685429-letters-editor

Incisive long read by the estimable Siddharth Singh, the virtues of going gradual, on the Modi government's economic reforms. Yours truly is cited, arguing for gradualism in preference to "shock therapy" or "big bang" reforms.

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/mocapitalism-2016