I AND MY WORDS

Erstwhile Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, K. Karunanidhi, launching the free colour TV scheme in 2006 (source: Rediff ) Recently, a storm unleashed itself on Twitter, as a famous YouTuber came on a popular podcast and made a bizarre claim. Free television distribution, it seems, led to improvement in the outcomes of women. And that is good economics. While I don't watch things all the time, what caught my fancy was the defence of the absurdity since. One journal paper was quoted by the YouTuber in question, and was touted as proof of good economics also being associated with freebies. Again, I usually don't comment on freebies, because I think all freebies as a rule are bad. Freebies raise the cost of service across the economy, create greater entry barriers for the poor that they are supposed to serve, and eventually distract from actual welfare spending on such issues as healthcare and education. However, the absurdity on this was so high that I wanted to write for a change. On...

While India and the whole World face an Energy Crisis that doesn't seem to be diminishing anytime soon, things have gone from bad to worse in Rajasthan's Power Sector with record-high bills and unannounced power cuts throughout the State. The matter has generated considerable political heat in the state, with the Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Gulab Chand Katariya cornering the government on the exceedingly high power bills and former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje slamming the government on the issue of power cuts, blaming it for mismanagement. Politics apart, there are several layers to the problem that need to be unraveled to truly understand the origins of the so-called Desert State's power woes that have led them into this storm. The reasons are manifold, with some being systemic while uncontrollable factors also coming into the picture now. However, as one will see, the state government has left much room for desire on the issue, and carries much of the bur...