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Ravikiran Rao
Pizza Delivery Incentives
Domino’s likes to announce that it doesn’t penalize its delivery boys for not meeting its 30-minute guarantees. It says so on its website, on its menus and the statement is even tagged on the uniforms of said boys. This seems like a good strategy to have – after all, you don’t want your delivery people [...]
What is Common to
Sanskrit, Brahmin, Sion and Matunga?
Something to do with their pronunciations.
Dear Expats
So, you’ve got a job in India. Welcome. I like the fact that a stint in India is a valuable addition to your CV. I also appreciate that your salary enables you to live among India’s rich. I also understand that you’d like to stay in yuppie enclaves as you find yourself most comfortable there. [...]
H G Wells’ Alien
One of H G Wells’ stories or novels had a character who behaved as if he was well-up on all the latest news, but had an out-of date library. If I remember correctly, that character later turns out to be an alien. Does anyone remember the name of the story? Is it from “War of the [...]
I Wasn’t Talking to You
The dark lord says:
The typical arguments are made by the right too. If the economy is going good “see, the deregulation has brought about unprecedented wealth. How can you propose more regulation?”
When the economy goes bad, we get the answer “see, the crisis is brought about due to regulation in the housing mortgage market. How [...]
We Always Need More Regulations
As Ajay Shah points out, we don’t just regulate our financial system, we micro-manage it. When things are going well in the US, and we make the case for deregulation, we get the answer: “See, even in the US, we don’t have a completely free market system. Even they have regulations. How can you propose [...]
Perverse Consequences
Two nights before the first communion, Father Antonio Isabel closeted himself with him in the sacristy to hear his confession with the help of a dictionary of sins. It was such a long list that the aged priest, used to going to bed at six o’clock, fell asleep in his chair before it was over. [...]
The Chinese Stock Market
In late 2007, the Shanghai stock market was going through a boom. A Professor of Economics was visiting China and there he learnt that everyone, everyone was expecting the stock market to crash after the Olympics in September 2008. In other words, they assumed the market to keep rising like a Diwali rocket till then, and then [...]
Swine Flu
Isn’t this hysteria over swine flu Un-Indian? Whatever happened to fatalism?




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