Advertisements PhD Project Title: Capitalism and Globalisation: Do social ties matter? Research Focus Focused on exploring the long-term trends in capitalism and entrepreneurship, my research studies the interactions between globalisation and the social ties binding Indian businesses during the years 1857-1970. Research Interests Economic history, business history and social science history. The relationship between capitalism,… Continue reading PhD project
Category: EconHistorienne
Notes and updates on research in Economic / Business History, newsletter, and research projects
A rich brew
This perhaps is the most powerful conversation starter, pretty much capable of spawning new cultures, or catalysing capitalism, liberalism or what have you.
Protected: #3 Pandemic of Inequality Won’t Let Us Breathe
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
It’s a good time for Atlas cycles to make a comeback
Bicycle manufacturing is a complex chain of production that passes through a global value chain which is currently adversely affected by the pandemic.
Bookmarking an important read on Maps
Can Atlas Cycles make a comeback?
Advertisements I wrote this for @moneycontrolcom and the inspiration came from my brother. More than a decade after he left high school, he invested in a bicycle. This reminded me of our favourite wheels as children — Atlas cycles. COVID-19 and the restrictions it imposed had clearly tested the patience of thousands like him who… Continue reading Can Atlas Cycles make a comeback?
Will equal inheritance rights widen gender inequality?
Advertisements I explore this in my op-ed this week for Moneycontrol.
Oral History Interview for SAADA
Advertisements Such a lovely interview by Gaiutra Bahadur (whose Coolie woman is one of my favorite books based on the life of the subaltern) of her aunt Kokila Bahadur for SAADA, who arrived in America when she was in her late 20s as a nurse trainee at a local hospital. Today, she is 81 and… Continue reading Oral History Interview for SAADA
Mercantile capitalism in a polycentric world
Advertisements Interesting new paper on the evolution of Indian capitalism that challenges the age-old trope of exceptionalism of the West and Asia’s fall. A little brief on the paper and full download can be found here,
Ruth Alice Allen
Advertisements Ruth Alice Allen, born in Texas in 1889, could be justly called a role model for women economists, if nothing more, and with a burst in feminist scholarship in recent years, it is only befitting that Allen’s work is rediscovered now. At a time when it was difficult for women to secure academic positions,… Continue reading Ruth Alice Allen
Book alert!
Advertisements Dr John Turner and Dr Will Quinn of Queen’s University Belfast have written a brilliant new book titled ‘Boom and Bust’, which is a fascinating account of the ten bubbles in history occurring in the 19th century Australia to modern China. In the words of the The Enlightened Economist: Each episode is set in… Continue reading Book alert!
Journal free access update, enjoy!
Advertisements https://twitter.com/a_capitalism/status/1288554690251194368
Edith Abbott
Advertisements Edith Abbott: From Economics to Social Work (1876-1957) Credit: Wikimedia Commons Edith Abbott, labour economist and economic historian, was the second woman to earn an Economics PhD from the University of Chicago in 1905. Interested in labour statistics and employment trends, Abbott published her first article ‘Wage statistics in the twelfth census’, in 1904… Continue reading Edith Abbott
Pandemics and Inequality
Advertisements Economic Historian Guido Alfani, who studies long run trends in inequality, posted a series of tweets on pandemics and inequality this week. To sum up: Some pandemics in history helped reduce inequality, but it would be wrong to say that all pandemics reduce inequality. 2. Some pandemics may not have macro impact but can… Continue reading Pandemics and Inequality
Notes on Capitalism during Covid times
Advertisements Let me tell you simple things. Covid 19 quarantine is helping me get this straight and simple: I like capital and those who aid capitalism. So this bothers me when capitalism is blamed for the mess we are in. This world is complex and I am someone who believes the right set of institutions… Continue reading Notes on Capitalism during Covid times
Joan Robinson
Advertisements ‘[M]y brain is quite congealed. I cannot think of a word to say to anyone.’ In India of the 1920s, a socially awkward young woman said this of her experience at the parties in Gwalior, India. In less than a decade, she joined Cambridge and became one of the foremost economic thinkers of our… Continue reading Joan Robinson
Pandemic of Inequality Won’t Let Us Breathe
Advertisements Illustration by Parag Dabke. The world we live in is getting scarier as disturbing events unfold. Floyd’s gruesome killing has sparked fierce reactions globally and we are now left tracing its roots to the long-standing racial prejudices that have existed alongside decades of material prosperity. We know this could be traced to British colonialism… Continue reading Pandemic of Inequality Won’t Let Us Breathe
Are Firms Too Risk-Averse?
Advertisements Interesting research on firms and their capacity to take risks. While firms may be risk averse, employees can be evaluated on what they can control and not on what they can not control. This and more useful points here. https://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2020/06/are-firms-too-risk-averse.html
The Understanding Money Mechanics
Advertisements mises.org/library/understanding-money-mechanics-0 I am a big sucker for economists explaining things, and an over sharer of all such knowledge made public. After Arjun Jayadev and Franko Milanovic’s free online video lecture series on Inequality, here is another one worth your time (link above) – The Understanding Money Mechanics series – by Robert P. Murphy. This is all… Continue reading The Understanding Money Mechanics
Share from Mostlyeconomics: Three development paradigms of Indian economy
Advertisements Vijay Kelkar Convocation Address at BHU: Three development paradigms of Indian economy https://mostlyeconomics.wordpress.com/2020/01/30/vijay-kelkar-convocation-address-at-bhu-three-development-paradigms-of-indian-economy/ — Read on mostlyeconomics.wordpress.com/2020/01/30/vijay-kelkar-convocation-address-at-bhu-three-development-paradigms-of-indian-economy/
Link between education and the industrial revolution – Sharing Amol Agarwal’s post
Advertisements Did education play a role in England’s industrial revolution? https://mostlyeconomics.wordpress.com/2020/01/30/did-education-play-a-role-in-englands-industrial-revolution/ — Read on mostlyeconomics.wordpress.com/2020/01/30/did-education-play-a-role-in-englands-industrial-revolution/
Budget 2020: Past matters but future is raged over
Advertisements Yeah so, even as Budget 2020 is waiting to be ripped apart mostly for what it’s projections for the year ahead are, I am worried how little we care about the past when it comes to the budget. Hey, what exactly is budget anyway? Just a simple record of what the government earned and… Continue reading Budget 2020: Past matters but future is raged over
Rare video of John Maynard Keynes
Advertisements Here is a rare archival footage of Kenyes speaking on the gold standard. Savour. https://twitter.com/econfilm/status/1222860593100664832
Video lecture series on Inequality
Advertisements Economics professors Arjun Jayadev and Branko Milanovic have collaborated on a video lecture series on Inequality – the five vidoes, free to watch, clearly and succinctly explain what Inequality is all about, why you should care and other fundamentals you have been wondering about for long. It’s cut-the-clutter stuff that you shouldn’t miss. Watch… Continue reading Video lecture series on Inequality
Happy birthday to Dietmar Rothermund!
Advertisements For a budding economic historian, reading Dietmar Rothermund’s work on India can be an illuminating experience, given that apart from the works of Indian scholars on Indian economic history, Rothermund’s books provide a refreshing view of history. But what can be really special about this veteran historian is his extremely warm demeanour even to… Continue reading Happy birthday to Dietmar Rothermund!
Can humans always be maximising their interests?
Advertisements Gratitude, Kindness, Loveliness https://www.econlib.org/Gratitude_Kindness_Loveliness
surgeons and sex
Advertisements How Medieval Surgeons Shaped Sex and Gender https://daily.jstor.org/how-medieval-surgeons-shaped-sex-and-gender/ Fascinating take on the historical origins of how sex and gender came to be defined, and the role of medical surgeons in it.
The Case For No Econ PhD
Advertisements It’s the loveliest Twitter thread I discovered in Tyler Cowen’s recent blog post. Melissa Kearney, Economics Professor at the University of Maryland, argues that 6 year Econ PhDs are terrible, especially for female students. Tyler goes a step further and says Econ PhDs should be abolished. Instead, he suggests three years of graduate economics… Continue reading The Case For No Econ PhD
Don’t Let TikTok Play You!
Advertisements I couldn’t resist my curiosity to find out more about TikTok, the social media app that’s bringing the mass following for scores of people from India’s hinterland. Watching all those TikTok people for a couple of days, I am left with an overpowering sense of fatigue. I know I qualify to be judgemental, elitist… Continue reading Don’t Let TikTok Play You!
Much Fuss Over GDP But How Do We Measure Happiness?
So, what are we going to do when we fix our GDP numbers back home? May be, join the global efforts on finding means to measure happiness, because number-driven GDP is already being punched for being an ineffective tool.
Democracy versus Growth?
I live in the world’s largest democracy but it often confounds me. It confounds me when I see people voting for leaders who don’t do justice to their roles.