State intervention for airlines; Digital public goods?; Episodes 21,22 of Everything is everything
State intervention for the airline industry
By default, in India, public policy is a game of power play in a haze of populism, in a culture of anything-goes by way of state intervention. The systematic toolkit of market failure and state capacity helps us think, in one field after another, about the useful role for the state. Such thinking has started emerging in India, in one field after another, such as finance, electricity, health, etc.
In my column in the Business Standard on 27 November, I work through this toolkit for the airline industry.
Digital public goods?
The phrases `Digital public goods’ and `Digital public infrastructure’ have become popular. In the 2nd edition of In service of the republic: The art and science of economic policy, Vijay Kelkar and I worried (chapters 27 and 28) about `premature state legibility’, and about the wrong use of the word `public good’ or `infrastructure’ when applied to government monopolies or central planning.
I did an episode with Vasant Dhar on his Brave New World podcast, on these themes.
Episode 21,22 of Everything is everything
Episode 21, The beauty of finance, 17 November, is a global history of finance starting from the spice trade.
Episode 22, Three great leaps by firms, 24 November, tells the stories of three remarkable leaps by firms, and wonders about the conditions under which these things can happen.