Allison Schrager: “I argue that neoliberalism is a great success, and it is responsible for one of the most prosperous economic eras in history—a pretty bold take, but the decline in poverty, rise in life expectancy, and increase in living standards are pretty spectacular. What do I mean by neoliberalism? It means many things to many people—it has become synonymous with die-hard devotion to markets—but it is really just accepting that policies introduce trade-offs, prices convey important information, governments aren’t great at picking winners, and free trade is the closest thing we’ve got to a free lunch. And this has largely been proven true. That does not mean everything is perfect. Opening trade to a country as large as China that has so much cheap labor has caused displacement, and policymakers should have done more for the affected communities. And we learned during the pandemic that we are maybe too dependent on China, though we should not be dependent on any one country, including ourselves. But still, the benefits by far outweigh the costs—we can now appreciate how great things like 40 years of low inflation were.”
FT: “Generative AI is being swiftly integrated into finance and accounting, by automating specific tasks. Stuart Tait, chief technology officer for tax and legal at KPMG UK, describes it as a “game changer for tax”, because it is capable of handling complex tasks beyond routine automation. “Gen AI for tax research and technical analysis will give an efficiency gain akin to moving from typewriters to word processors,” he says. The tools can answer tax queries within minutes, with more than 95 per cent accuracy, Tait says.”
NYTimes: “Transformation requires time and practice, which is why healthy societies invest in policies that promote bonding and reduce stress in early parenthood, like family leave and workplace cultures that allow fathers to prioritize parenting. To most effectively champion families, we must recognize that fatherhood changes men just as it changes women and anyone else who devote time to caring for young children. At a time when birthrates are dropping and people feel lonely, the role of father offers an anchor, grounding men in their relationships with others.” Advice for Dads.
Debashis Basu: “The only answer is a fundamental transformation, not more welfarism and certainly not slogans and memes. One part of the transformation is empowering the private sector, which alone can establish a long-term sustainable cycle of job creation…The climate for “doing business” remains forbidding, taxtortion is still rife, corruption at state and district levels has increased, oil prices remain extortive with high taxation, and the continued red tape has kept the enterprise system as stifled as before. There has been little progress on 100 smart cities, while the existing ones are bursting at their seams, further sapping the productivity of the people and businesses. All these indicators got worse under the BJP despite an absolute majority backed by supportive constitutional institutions and media. Does anyone expect these markers to improve now under a climate of more politics and less economy? Or will we just muddle along as we have done in the past?”
Nitin Pai: “India’s growing economy is creating livelihoods and employment, but not fast enough. We need to create 20 million jobs every year (to cater to the 12 million young people entering the workforce and to transition around 8 million farmers languishing in rural areas). This is the required run rate. Even if our current run rate is 5 million a year, we are still falling short of the target. To put this in perspective, India must create more jobs per year than the entire population of the Netherlands, Sri Lanka or Taiwan. It’s a scary number. Yet, India cannot become Viksit Bharat without pulling off such an unprecedented feat.”
