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Shruti Rajagopalan Profile picture
Shruti Rajagopalan
@srajagopalan
Economist @Mercatus Center @GeorgeMasonU. Fellow @nyulaw. Emergent Ventures India. Host @ideasofindia Podcast. Constitutional Economics & Public Choice. Dogs.
Jul 24 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
📢Thirty-five years ago, on July 24, 1991, in his Budget speech, Dr. Manmohan Singh quoted Victor Hugo, “No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.” The idea was economic freedom for Indians. It meant dismantling the License-Permit-Raj, allowing market prices, free trade, and pursuing rapid economic growth in a country plagued by poverty and self-imposed shortages. 🧵1/nImage India grew at an unprecedented growth rate for almost three decades and lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. But a lot remains to be done. And to remind us of what happened, how it was done, and the policy reforms that remain unfinished, five years ago, the India program @mercatus started the 1991 Project. We built a live, public repository with the details of the 1991 reforms, over 100 expert committee reports and policy documents, timelines, essays, and more. the1991project.com 2/nImage
Dec 2, 2024 • 25 tweets • 5 min read
December 2/3 is the 40th anniversary of the #BhopalGasTragedy. Almost 70% of the Indians today born after the tragedy. Rewriting a thread I did a few years ago to acknowledge the endless suffering of the victims, and recap the many blunders by the Government of India and Union Carbide because of which most victims are still waiting for compensation. 1/n On December 2, 1984, Methyl Iso-cyanate (MIC) and other highly toxic gases leaked from a pesticides plant set up by Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) - a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) - in of Bhopal. At least 10,000 died within 3 days of the leak. 2/n
Dec 31, 2022 • 32 tweets • 13 min read
Remember the eighties when wrong numbers and crossed connections were so common that misbehaving phones found their way into Indian movies? This trope disappeared at the turn of the century. In this essay, I explain the evolution through 18 movie clips! 🧵
tinyurl.com/4ethprvf In Mr. India, writers Salim-@Javedakhtarjadu masters of setting up characters, and @shekharkapur introduce Gaitonde and his phone through a series of wrong numbers. 2/n
vimeo.com/user191454509?…
Jul 22, 2022 • 13 tweets • 7 min read
I've been thinking about a subgenre of Hindi film music from '50-70 that's disappeared. The cabaret/club/dance song where the female singer raised philosophical questions.A departure from the usual cabaret/club/dance songs meant to titilate/objectify/sexualize/pine. 10-Song 🧵 👇 1. Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui
Taqdeer Banale Taqdeer Banale
Apne Pe Bharosa Hai
Toh Yeh Daav Lagale

From Baazi (1951): composition by SD Burman with lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi.

Geeta Bali on screen to Geeta Dutt's voice.

Jul 1, 2022 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
On 5th #GSTDay, I argue that in trying to make GST more equitable through multiple rates, GST has become more complex and less equitable because of regressive nature of compliance costs.

My paper (forthcoming in Social Philosophy & Policy). shrutiraj.com/wp-content/upl…

Here's why 👇 GST was marketed as a tax system that:
✅ Is easy to comply with as it subsumes multiple taxes into one tax
✅ Will unify the state tax system and convert India into a single free trade zone
✅ Has the potential to reduce corruption and tax evasion 2/n
Dec 31, 2021 • 34 tweets • 21 min read
2021 has been an incredible year for the @IdeasofIndia podcast @mercatus with transcripts @Discourse_Mag. Thanks to all the guests and listeners for their support and generosity. A list of the fantastic scholars and conversations below. 👇 We released 17 regular episodes and 14 short episodes with young scholars in our job market series, all made possible by the amazing team @mercatus. Our production team @Jeff_Holmes @FloerIt and Morgan Hamilton and @Discourse_Mag team David Masci and Christina Behe.
Jul 24, 2021 • 10 tweets • 5 min read
On the 30th anniversary of the budget speech that liberalized India from socialism, I am thrilled to announce The 1991 Project @mercatus.

A year long project to revive the discourse on growth-centered economic ideas to unleash the next stage of reforms.

the1991project.com My lead essay describing life under socialism in India, the 1991 reforms, why they matter, and the way forward in the quest for economic freedom and growth in India.

the1991project.com/essays/shruti-…
Apr 23, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Dear American Media, I understand that poverty porn and pandemic porn are very exciting and good for ratings. But there are a lot of issues to cover in re the horror in India, especially topics that can save lives. 1/n Most urgent: (1) Biden administration's DPA embargo on vaccine ingredients. (2) Or sending 20 million AZ and couple of million J&J vaccine stockpile to India. (3) Or helping supply ventilators to India, which is facing an acute shortage. 2/n
Apr 23, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
This is a @BDUTT appreciation tweet. Throughout the pandemic @BDUTT has been our most reliable set of eyes on the ground. Even now, when her father is in the hospital, she is telling everybody’s stories. 1/4 When we spoke earlier this week on her show, she was recording from the footpath. Literally outside a crematorium where she had just reported a story. She still managed to read our research papers and have all the details on her fingertips. And ask all the relevant questions. 2/4
Dec 23, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
This column has received a lot of response, and some of it misstates what I wrote. So I want to use this thread to once again state my position in the column.

1. I am AGAINST love jihad laws. As the column says I find them morally and constitutionally abhorrent. (1/5) 2. The progress I referred to is the increase in interfaith couples in India. THAT is the social progress, and I celebrate it. These awful laws are the backlash by a mob to social progress. 2/5
Sep 16, 2020 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
Students routinely email me asking me what they should read in public choice/constitutional political economy. I am going to post some of the classic papers in the field once or twice a week. Follow this thread. #publicchoicecanon The first is a classic #virginiapoliticaleconomy paper: An Economic Theory of Clubs by James Buchanan. I've been thinking a lot about this paper recently and it's a critical step bridging the gap between pure private & pure public goods. #publicchoicecanon darp.lse.ac.uk/papersDB/Bucha… Image
Aug 21, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Weekend listening - Episode 2 of the Ideas of India Podcast with @MadKhosla on his book India's Founding Moment. mercatus.org/bridge/podcast… 1/6 Madhav's book published by @Harvard_Press is one of the most important book on the intellectual traditions that formed India's constitution, and how those themes are relevant and important even today. @_sen_sharmila hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?is… 2/6
Aug 8, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
A thread on Ideas of India podcast. Thanks for all the appreciation and a quick thread to answer some of the questions. The goal: diving into academic literature and bridging the gap between academic ideas and policy question.
Jul 21, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Four points. 1. You are conflating a strong state (severe punishments) with strong state capacity (ability to execute a functional criminal justice system). I agree India has very severe punishments (also make the point in the column) but not enough capacity to enforce. 2. In fact India has brutal rules and punishments in part to compensate for lack of enforcement in criminal justice, to get the deterrent effect with lesser enforcement (also made this point in the column)
Jun 27, 2020 • 4 tweets • 4 min read
Congrats to the COVIN team led by @anup_malani for winning the second India Covid-19 prize awarded by @mercatus. Announcement at @MargRev by @tylercowen marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolu… 1/4 The project outlines a local, gradual, and trigger-based exit strategy from lockdown in India. is available here and is constantly updated with changing data. adaptivecontrol.org the Map tool is very useful. 2/4
Jun 2, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Back to the days of a closed economy and import substitution speaks economic doom for India. Self sufficiency is economic shorthand for impoverishment. 1/n A lot of people are comparing Modi’s economics with Nehru’s socialism and closed economy model. There are two key differences. 2/n
Jun 1, 2020 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
I agree with everything Ruchir Sharma writes in this op-ed. But I still think it's only part of the lockdown story. 1/n nytimes.com/2020/05/30/opi… Not having severe restrictions to enforce social distancing in India would have meant a rapid increase in Covid cases, and that would also hurt the poor. If India had taken that policy route, today we would be accusing the elites of taking up all the hospital resources. 2/n
May 18, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Some of @ajay_shah's thoughts on increasing economic freedom in the agricultural sector promted this thread. First this latest column on the topic. mayin.org/ajayshah/MEDIA… (1/6) One excellent idea is to help create a national market for agriculture (by leveraging the trade and commerce clause in the constitution Articles 301-307). Nicely aritculate din this paper by @ajay_shah @IlaPatnaik @AnirudhBurman @RoyShubho macrofinance.nipfp.org.in/PDF/BPRS_Natio… 2/6
May 8, 2020 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
States have already started dismantling some labour regulation, and my arguments on why this is a step in the right direction. 1/n news18.com/news/india/up-… First, UP and MP have started suspending labour regulation. This should have been done decades ago, even without Covid. These laws, while well intentioned, have had terrible unintended consequence of creating a monstrous unorganized sector. 2/n
Apr 24, 2020 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
This is a helpful thread on a poorly written article in bloomberg on infecting everyone in India to get herd immunity. @mlipsitch was misquoted. And while I agree that India cannot go from the most severe lockdown to opening up completely, some issues to to keep in mind. (1/n) .@ATabarrok and I point out in our policy brief, the average residential living space in India per household is 500 square feet, and the average per capita living space is 116.2 square feet (112.5 square feet for rural areas and 127.2 for urban areas). mercatus.org/publications/c… 2/n
Apr 14, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
On Ambedkar Jayanti, I want to share my favorite Ambedkar quote which I think is crucial to understand as an economist and student of the market process. "The Caste System is not merely a division of labour. It is also a division of labourers.“ Often the division of labour, a natural feature of the market process (or any civilized society as Ambedkar says) is conflated with the caste system and is used as a justification to propogate the caste system. This is economic illiteracy turned into propaganda.