Shruti Rajagopalan
@srajagopalan
Economist @Mercatus Center @GeorgeMasonU. Fellow @nyulaw. Emergent Ventures India. Host @ideasofindia Podcast. Constitutional Economics & Public Choice. Dogs.
Excellent oped by @PeterBoettke and @Marian_L_Tupy on the difference optimization by AI and prosperity through markets.
AI Can’t Replace Free Markets by @Marian_L_Tupy and @PeterBoettke wsj.com/opinion/algori…
economicforces.xyz/p/high-tariffs…
What happens when your understanding of economic history comes from a bestseller picked up at an airport bookstore? You end up knowing as much about economic development as you would about tactical armor deployment from watching a WWII documentary on the History Channel. No,…
📉 This was a sad week. At least two people relatively close to me came out in favor of tariffs. I would have never guessed they would. Even more concerning: they defended their views with what I believe are deeply flawed economic arguments. 🧵Let me address the first: “Tariffs…
Left: My view from (July 2023). Achieving stated targets in electronics manufacturing requires a ‘re-coupling’ between Indian & Chinese businesses on 3 dimensions: chips, investments, and talent. Right: @bsindia reports today that govt is open to JVs with China in electronics.
India’s biggest state. A $1 trillion goal. Can it deliver? Economist @srajagopalan pushes Uttar Pradesh’s top advisor Awanish Awasthi on whether bold urban visions can become real-world results.
If you think of India’s old license-permit raj as a way to enhance productivity it was obviously bonkers. But if you think of it instead as a sophisticated system to extract bribes from businessmen it was well designed. [From “Backstage: The Story Behind India’s High Growth…
#ReportLaunch The National Law School of India University (#NLSIU), Bengaluru, and Queen Mary University of London (@QMUL) are launching a report on the Foreigners Tribunals in Assam titled ‘Unmaking Citizens.’ 🗓️When: July 26, 2025 | 5 pm to 7 pm 📍Where: Teen Murti Bhavan,…
🚨 HUGE Immigration News: Trump just proposed a big change to the H-1B. No more lottery, but weighted selection by wage. Based on your job code and location, your base salary %ile will slot you into one of 4 groups. 85k H-1Bs are selected in decreasing order IV > III > II > I.…
I'll do you one better - representation should be proportional to the revenue generated by the state. S/o to @srajagopalan for this framework open.substack.com/pub/srajagopal…
Particularly comical to see Delhi High Court judges struggle with the true meaning of Raaga in classical music to settle this copyright dispute.
Delhi High Court is hearing the appeal filed by music composer AR Rahman against a single judge decision in the copyright case of Indian classical singer Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar over the 'Veera Raja Veera' song.
Tracking India’s AI policy discourse feels like watching city planners arguing over the font size of street signs before drawing a map or building the street. I’m happy to be persuaded otherwise, if someone can point me to good writing on AI policy in India.
'It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous' -- Robert Benchley. This quote is painted (among others) on the wall of the bathroom off my writing room.
The Inlaks-King's India Institute visiting PhD fellowship scheme is open again for applications (deadline August 31st). Two 3 month fellowships at King's for students in a PhD programme in Hums and Social Sciences at an Indian university @KingsIndiaInst inlaksfoundation.org/opportunities/…
🚨 We’re hiring for the Just Transitions on Indian Streets project! 🔹 2 Postdoc positions (Deadline: 11 Aug) 🔹 2 Research Associate positions (Deadline: 4 Aug) 📍 Hosted at @NLSIUofficial with @onneshaghosh Apply & share! nls.ac.in/news-and-event…
Multiple people sent this to me today with a “it made me think of you” note. I guess a lot of my friends are neurodivergent …. good thing they love me.
Out today, 20 July: Believer’s Dilemma—the second volume of my study on Vajpayee and the Hindu Right. Now available at bookshops! (Most of them are happy to ship across lands and oceans.) Please do share it with friends or family who might be interested in something like this.
The consequences for human welfare involved in questions like these are simply staggering: Once one starts to think about them, it is hard to think about anything else. --- Bob Lucas (1988).
The zero-sum trap: the more people believe that wealth, status, and well-being are zero-sum, the more they back policies that make the world zero-sum. marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolu…