Today my guest is Ruchir Sharma, who is the Chairman of Rockefeller International, a columnist with the Financial Times, and the author of the recent book, What Went Wrong with Capitalism.

We talked about American debt levels, US monetary policy, regulation and cronyism, industrial policy, the Indian economy under Modi, and much more.

Recorded July 31st, 2024.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:00:59) - Capitalism in America

(00:07:48) - Problems in Monetary Policy

(00:17:07) - Elite Consensus and Capitalism

(00:21:13) - Crisis and Course Correction

(00:27:14) - Credit and Bond Markets in the US

(00:33:07) - Industrial Policy in the US

(00:38:46) - Misunderstanding Systemic Risk

(00:48:18) - Declining Birth Rates and Economic Growth

(00:51:00) - Technology versus Regulation

(00:58:12) - India’s Economic Future

(01:00:30) - Modi Government’s Economic Policies

(01:16:25) - Alternative Ways out of Fiscal Crisis?

(01:18:04) - Outro

Today my guest is Amol Agrawal, who is the author of History of Private Banking in South Canara District (1906-69). He teaches economics at Ahmedabad University and blogs at the excellent blog Mostly Economics.

We spoke about the colonial and post-colonial history of banking in India, the unique features of the South Canara district, and its bankers, inclusive banking by state and private banks, bank nationalization, and much more.

Recorded July 26th, 2024.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:21) - History of Private Banking in India

(00:12:06) - Lending and Deposits

(00:16:17) - Industrial Development and Banking

(00:21:24) - Bank Runs in India

(00:25:54) - Success of South Canara Banks

(00:28:38) - Systemic Risk in South Canara

(00:36:16) - Banking Castes?

(00:40:29) - What was the RBI so wrong about with South Canara banking?

(00:47:50) - Pigmy Deposit Scheme

(01:05:28) - Why Were India’s Banks Nationalized?

(01:23:35) - Outro

Today my guests are Amartya Lahiri and Devashish Mitra who are joining me to discuss their latest paper for the 1991 project titled India’s Development Policy Challenge. Amartya Lahiri is the Royal Bank Research Professor in the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Devashish Mitra the Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. We spoke about structural transformation and increasing total factor productivity, manufacturing versus services led growth, industrial policy, export led growth, how to employ India’s youth in more productive sectors, and much more.

Recorded July 29th, 2024.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:27) - State of India’s Structural Transformation

(00:08:28) - Has India’s Growth Peaked?

(00:15:39) - Trade-, Export-, and Manufacturing-Led Growth

(00:27:50) - Manufacturing-Led or Services-Led Growth Model?

(00:47:16) - Scaling Manufacturing

(00:59:38) - Labor Productivity in India

(01:06:41) - Rising Protectionism

(01:19:44) - Monetary Policy and Trade Policy

(01:35:26) - Outro