Dear Mr. Kejriwal,
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]I[/dropcap] am writing this letter to you because I believe in your intention to reform the political and economic landscape in Delhi, and I trust that if Arvind Kejriwal understands that something is good for the people of Delhi, he will, unlike many other politicians, fight for it.
What I don’t believe is that intentions are sufficient to get one on the right path. The proverb “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is especially pertinent to economic policies. Economic policies have a very deceptive nature; they can look beneficial, even to the most brilliant, but can end up hurting the very people for which they are enacted.
I have been following many of your government’s proposals for policy changes, including enforcement of the minimum wage and overhaul of the system of primary and secondary education in Delhi. I won’t examine these policies in this letter for a simple reason that any meaningful discourse on policy will make the letter too long; because the arguments that make economic policies look good are superficial and short whereas the arguments that reveal their true impact are subtle and require a detailed analysis.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]B[/dropcap]elieve it or not, many Nobel Prize winning economists have fallen into that trap. It is for this reason that I am requesting you to invest some time to read the following three simple-to-understand stories and apply your own IITian logic. These stories are about how 50 men and women, stranded on an island, try to develop an economy from scratch and how they struggle with the challenges. You will relate to many of the challenges we are facing today. I have written these stories in Aam Aadmi’s terms without using any economic terminologies. Some humor is promised.
Republic of Ghaziabad: Republic of Ghaziabad P1
Republic of Ghaziabad – Part II: Republic of Ghaziabad P2
Once Upon A Time: Once Upon a Time
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]I[/dropcap] hope that these stories will help you derive your policies from the subtle and that your government will refrain from ephemeral and superficial urgings.
Feel free to reach me at shubhendu.pathak@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Your much junior fellow IITian,
Shubhendu Pathak
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