My latest @livemint column argues that when trade barriers are low, further reductions are mostly about income capture, not income creation.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/2HoTyCWK3dDTIor9W8vYaP/A-geometry-of-international-trade.html

A superb and wide ranging one hour long conversation on economic policy in India between my colleague Praveen Chakravarty and chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian. Many topics, including my research with Praveen on regional inequality in India, are discussed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbSwoqQ9B4I

My latest Mint column on the task that awaits new Indian Commerce Minister at the WTO Ministerial next month.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/KalIQEXNSdG7eQNvc44Z5K/Suresh-Prabhus-Buenos-Aires-tango.html

Catalonia's lessons for India, my latest Mint column, November 20, 2017.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/aiHKbT547LHjIGGewiLW0K/Catalonias-lessons-for-India.html

Videos of the recent Arvind Panagariya Festschrift at Columbia including yours truly.

http://indianeconomy.columbia.edu/content/videos-notable-speakers-and-economists-discuss-indian-economy-raj-center-conference?mc_cid=68519e1c3f&mc_eid=%5BUNIQID%5D&mc_cid=68519e1c3f&mc_eid=9c1bb75c4a

Direct Vimeo link to the session on sub-national outcomes and India's growth:

https://vimeo.com/241180290

The Narendra Modi led government deserves credit for focussing on the ease of doing business and boosting India in the rankings. My latest Mint column (in print in India Monday, online worldwide now) explores further, also drawing insight from the NITI/IDFC Institute Enterprise Survey we launched at the end of August in Delhi.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/qQhq44ebYHrfbwGmBhnAMK/India-is-right-to-focus-on-ease-of-doing-business.html

I speak to FirstPost about the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Ranking, the IDFC/NITI Enterprise Survey, and Demonetization. [video]

https://www.facebook.com/firstpostin/videos/1611867615539554/

My presentation on the Ease of Doing Business at the Arvind Panagariya Festschrift at Columbia this past weekend, October, 2017.

https://www.facebook.com/firstpostin/videos/1608677222525260/

Could the cash crunch caused by demonetization be understood as a Thaler-Sunstein style "nudge" toward digitization? I explore this question in my latest Mint column.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/sonxCrESjFRXkL9AbHse7O/Narendra-Modis-nudge-towards-digitization.html

ECON 5505: Topic 1 continued: Globalization, economic divergence, and place-based policies

This coming week's Economist has a leader and briefing on what is causing regional divergence and what to do about it.

Here is the leader:

https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21730412-time-fresh-thinking-about-changing-economics-geography-right-way-help-declining

Here is the briefing:

https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21730406-what-can-be-done-help-them-globalisation-has-marginalised-many-regions-rich-world

As you will see, this relates very directly to the Chakravarty-Dehejia research on regional inequality, with the difference that the Economist is focussing on advanced rather than emerging economies.

ECON 5505: Topic 4 continued: Debates Around Macro, Trade, and Finance

Proceedings of this recent conference organized by Olivier Blanchard and Lawrence Summers at Peterson Institute in Washington, DC (videos, papers, slide decks) are highly recommended.

https://piie.com/events/rethinking-macroeconomic-policy

Writing in the Hindu Business Line, Shamika Ravi, Vaidehi Tandel, and I, make the case for enterprise surveys, aimed to improve the doing business climate.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/a-case-for-statelevel-enterprise-surveys/article9906710.ece

I speak to Nikhila Natarajan of Firstpost on the current economic situation in India. [video]

https://www.facebook.com/firstpostin/videos/1590274804365502/

My latest Mint column takes a long view on growth and argues that the present moment calls neither for panic nor complacency, and that is time to get on with structural (supply side) reforms.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Ht33l14IBoZj6EuJEANW7J/No-need-to-panic-no-time-for-complacency.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=news_rec

ECON 5505: Topic 4: Debates around Global Money and Finance

PLEASE NOTE: IF THE LINKS ARE NOT "LIVE" COPY AND PASTE THE RELATED URL INTO YOUR BROWSER OR SEARCH BY AUTHOR, TITLE, AND PUBLICATION THROUGH A SEARCH.

Vivek Dehejia, “Illusions bred by a reserve currency”, Mint, July 17, 2014. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ PYlOLpqmSTcMFc5qhLB8TP/Illusions-bred-by-a-reserve-currency.html .

_____, “Greece, Germany, and the economics of currency unions”, Mint on Sunday, May 3, 2015. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/ Sundayapp/VPzcnylIMGmdvgHTFpX5xJ/Greece-Germany-and-theeconomics-of-currency-unions.html . ALSO READ ALL THE EMBEDDED LINKS
. _____, “The perils of cheap money”, Mint, July 19, 2015. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/FjZKeHGIkBBti8s3LKM3dI/The-perilof-cheap-money.html .

_____, “Inflation targeting and the evolution of monetary policy”, Mint on Sunday, August 2, 2015. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/ Sundayapp/b6dtiEFyLTGFikJmZ5qZfJ/Inflation-targeting-and-theevolution-of-monetary-policy.html . ALSO READ ALL THE EMBEDDED LINKS.

 _____, “Contagion and spillovers in the world of finance”, August 30, 2015. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/ nc7XnCRlLfp2HUIuoCi0xK/Contagion-and-spillovers-in-the-world-offinance.html . ALSO READ ALL THE EMBEDDED LINKS.

 _____, “Time for a world currency?”, Mint, April 11, 2016. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/9NwJ0lNsunbdXyQkKJjQJL/Timefor-a-world-currency.html . _____, “Why have capital flows to emerging economies slowed down?”, Mint on Sunday, May 14, 2016. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/ Sundayapp/MVBM3Enk5ZDtzYN2697buM/Why-have-capital-flows-toemerging-markets-slowed-down.html . ALSO READ ALL THE EMBEDDED LINKS.
 _____, “The genius of Robert Mundell”, Mint, July 18, 2016. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/FjZKeHGIkBBti8s3LKM3dI/Theperil-of-cheap-money.html .

 _____, “The currency question”, Mint, August 15, 2016. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/sBvcmx3LvdmXo9HDr9CIcN/Thecurrency-question.html .

The Economist, “The Mundell-Fleming Trilemma: Two out of three ain’t bad”, August 27, 2016, available here: http://www.economist.com/news/ economics-brief/21705672-fixed-exchange-rate-monetary-autonomy-andfree-flow-capital-are-incompatible .

Vivek Dehejia _____, “Decoding inflation in India”, Mint on Sunday, September 4, 2016. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/ nWV9n2mle4QboagcYO5XSK/The-roots-of-inflation-in-India.html . ALSO READ ALL THE EMBEDDED LINKS. 

My latest Mint column argues that Keynesian fiscal stimulus by itself will be counterproductive, and that the the government must press ahead with structural, supply side economic reforms.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/F5rnvBY2zczlCv3ytTmZBK/Narendra-Modi-needs-to-press-the-gas-pedal-on-reforms.html

ECON 5505: Topic 3: Development-Induced Development

Jay Drydyk, "The Centrality of Empowerment in Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement: An Ethical Perspective", Chapter 6 in Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement: New Perspectives on Persisting Problems, ed. Narae Choi and Irge Satiroglu (Routledge 2015). The book is available as an e-book at the Carleton University Library for registered users while on campus, or log in via VPN from off campus.

ECON 5505: Topic 2: Introduction to Debates around Globalization and Development

James Dean, Vivek Dehejia, et. al., “Optimal globalization and national welfare”, Carleton Economics Papers, 2004-17, November 2004. Available here: http://carleton.ca/economics/wp-content/uploads/cep04-17.pdf .

James Dean, “Paradoxes and Puzzles in our globalized world”, Carleton Economics Papers, 2006-7, October 2006. Available here: http:// carleton.ca/economics/wp-content/uploads/cep06-07.pdf .

Vivek Dehejia, “Economic Reforms in India in the Narendra Modi Era”, Lecture at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, December 7, 2015. Available here: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqSZZjmUnU0 . [VIDEO]

James Dean and Vivek Dehejia in conversation on “The paradoxes of debt”, IDFC Institute, Mumbai, India, January 14, 2016. Available here: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGgH7VNW3U4 . [VIDEO]

Arvind Panagariya and Vivek Dehejia in conversation on economic policymaking in India, IDFC Institute, Mumbai, India, July 4, 2016. Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFDM1inV_BM . [VIDEO]

Vivek Dehejia, “Is globalism dead?”, Mint, August 1, 2016. Available here: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/6xyjobypNoxX2fqFWorVVN/Isglobalism-dead.html .

James Dean and Vivek Dehejia, “By ignoring free trade’s excesses, we lost those on the margins”, Globe and Mail, Report on Business Commentary, August 27, 2016. Available here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/reporton-business/rob-commentary/by-ignoring-free-trades-excesses-we-lostthose-on-the-margins/article31582106/ .

James Dean and Vivek Dehejia, "Is the world retreating from globalization?", IDFC Institute Briefing Paper No. 4, February, 2017. Available here: http://www.idfcinstitute.org/site/assets/files/10654/dean_dehejia_bp_final_6feb17.pdf .

My latest Mint column explores the "3-3-3 puzzle" and what to do about it.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ctuQdKDhgQNqGAbo6yJFyN/The-333-puzzle-and-what-to-do-about-it.html

ECON 5505: Topic 1: Readings on economic divergence research by Chakravarty and Dehejia

For students in ECON 5505, please make note of the following readings for our first topic. This draws on my ongoing research with Praveen Chakravarty. Kindly do the original readings and pertinent references cited therein. Assignment will be discussed in class.

Chakravarty/Dehejia, Economic and Political Weekly. http://www.epw.in/journal/2017/25-26/notes/will-gst-exacerbate-regional-divergence.html

Chakravarty/Dehejia, Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy. http://www.thehinducentre.com/publications/policy-watch/article9808532.ece

Economist, September 2nd 2017 issue, "The gap between India's richer and poorer states is widening". https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21727867-economists-are-baffled-arguing-poorer-states-should-be-catching-up

Writing in The Print, Jagdish Bhagwati, Pravin Krishna, and I take stock of the successes and failures of demonetization.

https://theprint.in/2017/09/05/premature-argue-demonetisation-success-failure/

In a survey of new research using nighlights data, Economics Express (Mint) picks up on recent research by Praveen Chakravarty and myself.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/8sem2siTKKkHCTVxuSxjuN/When-economists-look-to-the-sky.html

Siddharth Singh, editor at large, Open magazine, has an essay in the new issue on the NITI/IDFC enterprise survey report, in which I am quoted.

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/economy/a-tale-of-two-indias

My research on economic divergence among India' states, with Praveen Chakravarty, features in this week's Economist.

https://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21727867-economists-are-baffled-arguing-poorer-states-should-be-catching-up

Much media coverage of the Ease of Doing Business Report. Here, page 1, above the fold, in this morning's Mint.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/CanjTwmgHX7FE6PgPZ5gXO/Regulatory-reform-fails-to-cut-red-tape-NITI-Aayog.html

Today in Delhi, NITI Aayog/IDFC Institute released the survey of enterprises, a project two years in the making. I was co-lead researcher along with two other colleagues. The link is below.

http://www.idfcinstitute.org/knowledge/publications/reports/ease-of-doing-business/

Writing in Mint, I argue that calls to weaken the rupee are misguided, and are batting for the interests of domestic industry, not consumers or the economy as a whole.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/6Xe8JxAhukvO3umuooK5JM/Calls-to-weaken-rupee-are-misguided.html

My latest Mint column argues that the RBI's monetary policy committee has been right to be cautious in cutting rates.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/1NZkPepj6aeETkQqsc7sSN/Cut-the-monetary-policy-committee-some-slack.html

Praveen Chakravarty and I explore the political economy of centre-state relations in India in a new publication from the Hindu Centre in Chennai.

http://www.thehinducentre.com/publications/policy-watch/article9808532.ece

In my latest Mint column, I draw the analogy between Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, and how the latter should learn the right, not the wrong, lessons from the former.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/CbBbaBOxLcoHhl1499xFLM/The-analogy-between-Richard-Nixon-and-Donald-Trump.html

Swarajya magazine features an except from Uday Mahurkar's new book on Narendra Modi and has a quotation from yours truly on demonetization.

https://swarajyamag.com/books/on-modi-and-his-mammoth-move-of-demonetisation

Zia Haq in a cover story in the latest Outlook draws on regional inequality research by Praveen Chakravarty and myself.

https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/the-black-hole-in-the-heart/299141

My annual "letter from Siena" reflects on Indian economy policy in the context of the Mundell-Laffer policy mix.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/cDGkm0qw0IMmDiFz55VxsK/India-and-the-MundellLaffer-policy-mix.html

My latest Mint column analyzes the twisting intersections of language and culture in the political economy of federalism in India.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Uch8ds3QUbewDe7GEkc29O/The-politics-of-culture-and-language.html

On the eve of GST implementation in India, Praveen Chakravarty and I, writing in the Economic and Political Weekly, argue that it may exacerbate regional divergence.

http://www.epw.in/journal/2017/25-26/notes/will-gst-exacerbate-regional-divergence.html

PDF of paper found here: http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2017_52/25-26/NO_LII_25-26_240617_Praveen_Chakravarty.pdf

I was delighted to participate in a conversation with Arvind Panagariya and Urjit Patel on NITI Aayog's Action Agenda, at the Reserve Bank of India this past week.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/this-is-not-jobless-growth-says-arvind-panagariya-117063000066_1.html

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/yBJFOy5UcPj7CFi9IZTb9M/Arvind-Panagariya-rubbishes-jobless-growth-criticism-as-bogu.html

Improving the "ease of doing business" (EoDB) remains a vital policy priority in India, most particularly reducing burdensome regulation that stifles job creation, wages, and productivity, my latest Mint column argues.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/9smsZPVAJNmhMQ9f9aZdaJ/The-importance-of-ease-of-doing-business.html

My latest Mint column argues that there is a natural ideological affinity between Israel and India, which I believe are natural allies and partners.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/rZefifXVCYRdleMNxAP5QI/India-Israel-and-a-natural-ideological-affinity.html

In a special column in Mint, Pravin Krishna and I argue for the privatization of Air India.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Y1PhhD4SiV2LRJemCETfeL/Privatize-Air-India-now.html

My latest Mint column looks at the distinctly Canadian roots of inflation targeting.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/7XJOULCcVM92vmeilKKUOM/Inflation-targetings-Canadian-roots.html

My latest Mint column, on how both expediency and ideology conspire to give us poor economic choices by government.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ExtRcBxEDGGycOTxccLb6O/Why-governments-make-poor-economic-choices.html

In a special Mint column, Pravin Krishna and I analyze NITI Aayog's new Action Plan, part of a Vision Document which replaces five years plans, and find much to commend.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/qSkrDe4TWCuDuUIDGTyo5N/Understanding-NITI-Aayogs-action-agenda.html

My latest Mint column revisits the evergreen debate on whether good economics is good politics in India.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/kD1DxWMIqFfD53J6rsa0tI/The-relationship-between-economics-and-politics.html

Writing in Mint, Rupa Subramanya critiques recent policy proposals by the Modi government, arguing they betray the old command and control mentality, not the good governance that the BJP and Narendra Modi promised.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/PKlzMrPIoTIELzvkGx7VoK/Is-Narendra-Modi-abandoning-his-promise-of-good-governance.html

My latest Mint column asks whether the GST will increase political fragmentation, with some comparative political economy on centralization vs. federalism from the Quebec secession movement in Canada.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/egVkPOQX9ayoRrHX1MLtaJ/Will-the-GST-increase-political-fragmentation.html

In today's Times of India, Jagdish Bhagwati, Pravin Krishna, and I take stock of demonetization and remonetization, and how the critics got it plain wrong.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/looking-back-at-demonetisation-the-concerns-of-its-legion-of-critics-have-all-been-proven-plain-wrong/

"Why care about inequality?" My latest Mint column reflects on this age old question.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/yXW7qZuokuDzr7LeYvQySO/Why-care-about-inequality.html

Praveen Chakravarty and I have a new IDFC Institute Briefing Paper using a novel luminosity based data set to study income convergence/divergence at the level of India's districts.

http://www.idfcinstitute.org/site/assets/files/11020/district_luminosity_bp_number_5_23mar17-2.pdf

In our latest Mint Essay, Praveen Chakravarty and I deploy a novel luminosity-based data set to document widening income gaps *within* states, not just across them. A Briefing Paper on this, going into greater detail, is forthcoming shortly.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Uqj3rmz3SxVNw7EONHyvzH/Income-divergence-governance-or-development-model.html

My latest Mint column looks at the economic roots of the US Civil War and draws lessons for other federal polities with widening economic divergence.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/RwPxaEVv6Kg64Qpt1xtHNM/A-more-perfect-union.html

Today's unsigned editorial in Mint, on the UP election, draws on research by Praveen Chakravarty and myself, on widening income gaps among states.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/D4jBGAsqRex3k786LwYxkN/Why-Uttar-Pradesh-and-11-March-matter.html

President Donald J. Trump has an historic opportunity to set his stamp on American monetary policy. My latest Mint column explores what he might do.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/PZhXNq7AubiEW9ktipQRAM/Trump-is-on-the-money-on-US-Fed.html

YouTube video of a Raisina Dialogues 2017 panel on "reaching money to the bottom of the pyramid" in which I spoke.

https://youtu.be/lac15AYVyFw

My latest Mint column, on the promise and peril of "place-based" economic policies.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/pAfLlaqP81fYG7JPHVHCrM/Promise-and-peril-of-placebased-policies.html

I spoke yesterday on a panel at the Asia Liberty Forum 2017 in Mumbai, organized by the Centre for Civil Society and sponsored by the Atlas Network. The panel was on "Regulations for a prosperous and innovation market economy". Video links below.

https://www.periscope.tv/ccsindia/1lDxLRZkgPPGm?t=4

https://www.facebook.com/ccsindia/videos/10155443757439316/

In a new Mint Essay building on insights from our previous research and the recent Economic Survey, Praveen Chakravarty and I conjecture that the GST may worsen already high inter-state income inequality in India.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/brOQkNWCFK93b5OOJm8eVP/Will-GST-exacerbate-Indias-income-divergence.html

James Dean and I have a new paper, "Is the world retreating from globalization?", just published by IDFC Institute.

http://www.idfcinstitute.org/site/assets/files/10654/dean_dehejia_bp_final_6feb17.pdf

My take on Union Budget 2017-18 in a special column in today's Mint.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/5ovhsoSEhzWRXSiuyOvrdL/Union-Budget-2017-A-routine-affair.html

Praveen Chakravarty and I in a live Facebook video chat on the Economic Survey 2017 of India.

https://www.facebook.com/idfcinstitute/videos/737133166452161/

My latest Mint column reflects on the breakdown of elite consensus in the global international order, taking a leaf from a recent public address by former Canadian PM, Stephen Harper.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/nW9DhzguY8YfcWMdyl5W3O/The-failure-of-elite-wisdom.html

Friends in Mumbai, do mark your calendars. Friend and co-author James Dean and I present a joint seminar on "paradoxes of globalization" at the Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics, January 25th!

http://www.meghnaddesaiacademy.org/events/mdae-speaker-series-vivek-james/

My latest Mint column takes stock of demonetization debates, and tries to sift ex ante justifications from ex post facto analyses.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/geN7wAA9C26Kj3jLFmGfYI/Demonetisation-debates-redux.html

In today's Mint, I attempt to lop off a few of the heads of the hydra-headed misguided criticisms of demonetization.

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/321spUMMMLxRXDwDR1T76O/Demonetizations-hydraheaded-critics.html