Teaching economics in today’s world

Modelling in basic economics plays an instrumental role in explaining the essential workings of a society

Different contexts can drastically affect stated outcomes of economic models

It is that time of the academic year when most instructors prepare to begin teaching a new cohort of perceptive, young minds joining university campuses. As an instructor of economics, it is fascinating to welcome students, introduce them to higher possibilities of learning, and teach foundational concepts using illustrative cases based on real-world scenarios.

Economics in the larger field of social sciences, and over the last century or so, has occupied a vital space in understanding different aspects of human behaviour. There remains little scope for disputing this fact. However, the method of teaching, learning and studying basic economics still provokes debates among members both within and outside the econ-tribe.

These debates have intensified since the time of the great recession (2007-08), particularly with regard to the relevance of mathematical models and the extent to which they can help us provide answers to a complex web of social and economic problems in an age of uncertainty. This critical dialogical process has allowed distinguished economists like Jean Tirole, Paul Krugman, and Dani Rodrik to argue for greater public dissemination of economic ideas and a strengthening of the weakened social contract between the economist and civil society. At the same time, on the methodological relevance of modelling in economics, there remain some important points to be made.

Modelling in basic economics plays an instrumental role in explaining the essential workings of a given society. Economic models, as Dani Rodrik argues, despite their “simplicity, (mathematical) formalism and neglect of many facets of the real world”, remain integral to the discipline. What’s important to emphasize here though is that any given model, whether testing for the effectiveness of a tax policy or the role of tariffs in creating new jobs, may seem to work only in a given context. Different contexts can drastically affect stated outcomes of models. An under-acknowledgment of this contextual condition in modelling often gets most economists (advocating for “a” model as “the” model) into trouble. Analysing the effective role of markets in distributing scarce resources and gains between agents, buyers and sellers in a particular society can involve the use of models to explain the relationship of any one aspect of the agent-market relationship, assuming other conditions to be constant. Thus, any model can (at best) help us focus on particular causes to show their effects through the system in a given period. To achieve this, a modeller needs to operate from an abstract, artificial position to study the extent of a causal degree of relationship between social variables, which, from their respective real-world position, would be difficult (if not impossible) to analyse on their own.

For example, a simple supply-demand model of a given good/service can help us explain the relationship between the price of that good/service and, let’s say, the total quantity demanded/supplied. This is perhaps one of the simplest and most useful models studied in basic microeconomics. The model seems operational only under certain given conditions (assumptions of “perfect competition”, “rational” human behaviour) to satisfy essential mathematical axioms as a conceptual requirement. It remains highly possible that as conditions of such assumptions change, the results of the model change in such a revised context. The effectiveness of economic models remains, thus, closely connected with the nature and quality of assumptions it works under.

One of the ways by which most debates on the validation of economic models, and the test of their real-world applicability, may be better studied is by incorporating greater use of “narratives” in the method of analysis itself. Narratives here may simply refer to humanist, contextual perspectives accumulated from subjects or recipients who are most likely to be affected by any given model’s application, especially when applied in the form of a policy.

For example, when any government increases the tariffs of a particular basket of goods (or services) with the expectation of helping to protect domestic industries, it remains important to see whether a target group actually witnesses an increase in its productivity or not.

Most economic models studying the effectiveness of tariffs in improving the aggregate productivity of any product may reflect on how there is very little empirical support for such a trade policy measure. The role of narratives here would be to draw out perspectives from target groups of domestic manufacturers and facilitate such observed findings as part of a feedback mechanism, testing the effectiveness of the policy. With a complementary use of narratives over and above the mathematical framework of models, it is further possible to determine under what kind of conditions a policy may or may not yield a desired set of outcomes.

Economists and those training to become one can, therefore, be seen merely as social engineers or modelling architects representing different real-world scenarios. Students and teachers of the discipline can hardly see economics as some form of an exact science but one that simply uses mathematics and narratives as mediums of communication. Cultivating an attitude of humility with a quest to constantly experiment with methods within different contexts are critical values in training students of economics to further strengthen the social contract between the economist and civil society.

Source: Mint epaper, 13/08/2018

Let’s share

The free software and open access movements are among the most important developments after the rise of the world wide web

Back in 2010, Aaron Swartz, a tech prodigy and political activist, sneaked into a basement closet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and secretly connected his Acer laptop to the institute’s high-speed internet network. Using MIT’s credentials, he gained access to JSTOR, a digital academic database, and began to download thousands of files. Once a talented entrepreneur, he had renounced the traditional Silicon Valley career path for a non-conformist campaign of rigorous public-interest activism.

But what was his intent behind downloading these articles? He aimed to make these journals openly available to online users as he believed in the fundamental principle of freedom of information. He also believed that those digitised academic documents behind the JSTOR paywall were for public use and that they needed to be liberated by guerrilla action, as he stipulated in his “Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto” in 2008.

Swartz’s antics were detected, and he was soon apprehended. The several million documents he downloaded were never released. In January 2013, the US attorney’s office in Boston indicted him in federal court on 13 felony charges and sentenced him to a statutory maximum of 95 years in prison. Swartz hanged himself in his apartment in Brooklyn. His death drew media attention and can be considered as the lens for reconsidering the entire history of copyright for the digital age. This also marked the emergence of the Free Culture movement.

“Information wants to be free” goes the slogan of the social movement encouraging open-source software, file sharing and a permissive legal environment for modifying and distributing the creative works in the form of open content or free content by using the internet and other forms of media. The free software and open access movements are among the most important developments after the rise of the world wide web. Swartz was not the only internet activist who believed in the concept of an open and free internet. There were people like Richard Stallman, who gave birth to the term “free software”, free as in freedom, not free as in no cost.

The aura of the information age is not just about new ideas but about a shift in the paradigms of communication and control. In this age of digital feudalism, we do not actually own the products we buy, but we are merely granted limited use of them as long as we continue to pay the rent. The radical expansion of intellectual property (IP) rights threatens to reach the point where they suppress any and all other rights of the individual and society. The current copyright laws have hindered creativity and resulted in a read-only internet culture in which we only consume information/content, despite technology advances that make it easy to create and contribute to culture. Copyright law doesn’t extend neatly to the digital world and the digital rights management tools the industry is endeavouring to develop to maintain copyright control are dampening the growth of a rich read-or-write culture.

We need to bring that open-source mentality to the content layer. Two-thirds of all websites run on open-source software, but most of the premium academic resources remain closed behind digital gates. The Directory of Open Access Journals reports that nearly 4,000 publications are available to the masses via the internet, a number that grows rapidly each year. It is essential to liberate data, liberate knowledge — especially data that taxpayers have already paid for.

Thanks to the Free Culture movement, vast knowledge repositories like Wikipedia and Stack Exchange and open access efforts like the science article sharing site arXiv.org have flourished as they permit content to be re-used for free and built upon, and many major websites offer Creative Commons (CC) licensing as part of their user interfaces (UI). In 2012, Google launched a worldwide campaign named Take Action for building a free and open world wide web. Here is the kernel of Google’s argument: “A free and open world depends on a free and open internet. Governments alone, working behind closed doors, should not direct its future. The billions of people around the globe who use the internet should have a voice”.

In India, the campaign for an open and free internet was triggered in 2015, when Airtel planned to charge extra for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services such as Skype. Airtel also had a tie-up with e-commerce website Flipkart for a platform called Airtel Zero, which primarily gave users free access to Flipkart’s website, while other sites were still charged for access — a practice dubbed “zero rating”. Airtel scrapped the platform as well as the plan following a large-scale public upheaval, which eventually spawned broader discussions and deliberations in India over net neutrality.

Recently, India’s Inter-ministerial Telecom Commission took a landmark decision by agreeing to the recommendations by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and finally adopting prim Net Neutrality rules (keeping the internet free from corporate and political interests) granting 1.3 billion people equal access to online content. This is consequential for a developing (largest functioning democratic) nation like India as open internet establishes a network of online democracy, innovation and creates a level playing field for everyone.

A free and open culture would enrich our world in immeasurable ways. Let’s take a step closer to a world in which free access to knowledge is a basic human right and sharing is the norm, not the exception.

Source: Indian Express, 13/08/2018

Waive dining, hostel charges for SC, ST students: Panel to TISS

After a massive protest by students in February against the institute across all campuses over improper implementation of the Government of India Post-Matric Scholarship scheme (GoI PMS), the NCST had recommended the institute to waive off the dining and hostel charges for ST students.

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has directed the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, to waive off dining and hostel charges for students from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes categories. The commission, which visited the Mumbai campus of TISS in June, reiterated its recommendations made in February following protests by students.

In its review report dated July 25, the NCST said: “The commission reiterates and strongly recommends that the Tata Institute of Social Sciences should come forward with a plan for arranging funds from various sources to meet the requirement of funds for dining and hostel charges of students of SC/ST category… This needs to be done urgently to protect the interests of poor students.”

After a massive protest by students in February against the institute across all campuses over improper implementation of the Government of India Post-Matric Scholarship scheme (GoI PMS), the NCST had recommended the institute to waive off the dining and hostel charges for ST students.

On June 5, a 10-member team of the NCST, including the chairperson, visited the campus to review the implementation of reservation policy and other measures for protection and social welfare of students from the ST category. The team found that its earlier recommendations had not been implemented.

The commission has now recommended that the institute also reduce its fee in the interest of students and prepare its fee structure in line with other deemed universities.

During its visit, the NCST also found that reservation rosters for various posts among employees were not filled as per central government norms. It has asked TISS to fill up all backlog ST vacancies in a special recruitment drive and submit an action plan for the same to the commission.

While acting Director Shalini Bharat was unavailable for comment, a spokesperson from the institute said the report was received last week. “We are evaluating the recommendations made by the NCST and are in the process of preparing an action plan,” said the official.

In February, students began protesting the institute’s decision to withdraw aid to GoI-PMS students and charge dining and hostel fees from eligible students. Following the protests, the institute agreed to waive off the fees for existing students until the 2017-18 batch. It, however, asked SC/ST students of the 2018-2020 batch to pay Rs 12,500. It asked OBC non-creamy layer students to pay Rs 30,700 at the time of admission. Both amounts are inclusive of hostel fee, dining hall charges and caution money, among others. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes, too, is hearing the matter.

Source: Indian Express, 13/08/2018

NEW ARRIVAL: TISS GUWAHATI CAMPUS LIBRARY

·        Dutta, Ritwick and Yadav, Bhupender: Supreme Court on Forest Conservation. Gurgaon, Universal Law Publishing, 2011 (346.046 D97S)

·        Onesto, Li: Dispatches From the People’s War in Nepal.New Delhi, Heritage Publishers, 2006 (954.96 O49D)

·        Smith, Michael Peter: Transnational Urbanism: Locating Globalization. New York, Blackwell Publishing, 2001 (307.76 S56T)

·        Drexler, Elizabeth F: Aceh, Indonesia: Securing the Insecure State. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008 (959.81104)

·        Nowotny, Helga (ed): Cultures of Technology and the Quest For Innovation. New York, Berghabn Books, 2006 (338.064 N88C)

·        Middleton, Townsend: The Demands of Recognition: State Anthropology and Ethnopolitics in Darjeeling. Stanford, Stanford University Press (301.095414 M60D)

·        Thapar, Romila: Talking History. New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2017 (954.072 T30T)

·        Jayal, Niraja Gopal: Representing India: Ethnic Diversity and the Governance of Public Institutions. New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 (323.154 J35R)

·        Crosby, Alfred W: Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015 (304.2 C75E)

·        Marcus, Alfred A.: Innovations in Sustainability: Fuel and Food. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015 (338.927 M33I)

·        Theidon, Kimberly: Intimate Enemies: Violence and Reconciliation in Peru. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013 (363.34 T31I)

·        Weizman, Eyal: The least of All Possible Evils: A Short History of Humanitarian Violence. London, Verso, 2017 (303.482 W28L)

Journal of Infrastructure Development

Table of Contents

Volume 9 Issue 2, December 2017

Does This Road Go on Forever? Modelling Sustainability of Infrastructure in Developing Countries Jeremy Streatfeild First Published December 6, 2017; pp. 69–81 Abstract Preview | |  |

Does Infrastructure Matters in Government Spending? A Case Study of Jammu and Kashmir (India) with Cointegration Approach Samir Ul Hassan, Biswambhara Mishra First Published December 6, 2017; pp. 82–97 Abstract Preview | |  |

Transport Infrastructure and Economic Growth: New Evidence from Tunisia an ARDL Bounds Testing Approach Radhia Amairia, Bouzid Amaira First Published December 6, 2017; pp. 98–112 Abstract Preview | |  |

Effects of Rural Infrastructure on Agricultural Development A District Level Analysis in Karnataka, India Soumya Manjunath, Elumalai Kannan First Published December 6, 2017; pp. 113–126 Abstract Preview | |  |

Why Article 35A must stay

Scrapping of special laws would close the last opening for reconciliation in Kashmir and in South Asia.

As the colonial era withdrew, with the world map redrawn to shape new nation states, two countries took birth on the basis of religious identity: Pakistan and Israel. The toxicity of the new creations continues seven decades down the line, to increase in intensity and impact, almost hijacking the millennial developments and scripting the 21st century hate discourse.

Jammu and Kashmir, then popularly known as just Kashmir, was a semi-independent country under British suzerainty ruled by a Dogra Hindu king. This sprawling country of diverse ethnicities, climates, topographies, religions and cultures, spread from the Karakoram to Punjab plains, had one commonality: It had almost 80 per cent Muslims living in all areas. The united India was at war with itself on the basis of religious hostility, Muslims demanding a separate country and the Hindu majority acquiescing (or abetting?) to it.

Kashmir stood out in one grand, standalone adventure to reject the idea of separation based on religion. In the post-colonial nation-building effort, that was the most exciting experiment which offered the national leadership of Gandhi and Nehru some basis to retrieve their secular credentials after having been a party to the Partition. It was also the first instance in the 1,400 years of Islam that an overwhelmingly Muslim entity had given itself up to a non-Muslim country of continental size, defying the logic of Partition which unfortunately continues till this day as the defining discourse of India.

To assuage the apprehensions of being swamped in a country which was still a hundred times larger than it in population, constitutional guarantees were built into the relationship as it grew from romance to disillusionment, subterfuge to hostility. The people of the state, Muslims in particular, got to know that the architects of accession were actually trying to trick each other rather than building a nation which could work as a bulwark against the tempestuous forces that were in the womb of time.

As the Supreme Court of India heads towards a decision on the validity of Article 35A of the Constitution of India, this perspective is deliberately kept out of the discourse. It is lost in hateful rants on evening TV shows with the result that Kashmir illiteracy at the national level is now competing with the learning standards of our government schools. To youngsters in the country, Kashmir is at best the abode of Amarnath or a place inhabited by an ungrateful, dangerous species.

This won’t be the first judicial challenge to the constitutional scheme governing J&K to safeguard local laws of the state, mainly the “state subject law” which was introduced by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927. This law came in response to apprehensions which prevailed then among the Dogras of Jammu and Kashmiri Pandits having monopoly over government jobs and landed estates about the Punjabi Muslim elite which had started acquiring land and poached on jobs in J&K. After Independence, it became the only tool of residents of J&K to safeguard their identity but many in the rest of the country could not sympathise with this genuine feeling. So it came under judicial challenge time and again but stood the test even of a five-judge constitutional bench.

The heightened apprehension this time owes to the fact that, unlike on previous occasions, the Union government is not defending the case but has left it to the court. That can be attributed to the ruling BJP’s agenda of scrapping the special status of the state altogether. The state government under the PDP organised the best possible legal defence but the governor’s administration, in spite of NN Vohra’s deep understanding of the sensitivity of the issue and his empathetic stance, is generally seen as an extension of the Union government. So it seems to an ordinary citizen of the state a lost case, which it may not be, given its strong legal standing.

Whatever the history of this arrangement, there are many contemporary factors that must be seen and considered to reach a modern understanding. In Assam 40 lakh people are sought to be robbed of citizenship rights to address the sensitivities of other citizens of Assam: Demographic change. If there is a citizenship register for the country, which is good, why can’t a state under the same constitutional scheme have its own citizenship register? If Bangladeshis, actually east Pakistanis, can be thrown out, why does someone insist that west Pakistanis should be given citizenship of a state in violation of its law?

The state subject law has served J&K and the country better than its absence would have. The state is a collage of ethnicities, all of which have flourished in a model that should guide other states. Just an example: J&K has almost the same ratio of Muslim and non-Muslim population in reverse order as that of West Bengal. Look at the services of both states for a fair assessment of that claim.

In J&K, non-Muslims outnumber Muslims in the elite Kashmir Administrative Service, which we celebrate. The state secretariat is a unique building in today’s fractured, exclusivist world, housing officials and clients from all major religions in right proportions, not mirroring symbolic representation like our national institutions. There are just a few thousand Shina speaking Dards, Pushtos, Baltis, Hindu Gaddis, nomadic Bakarwals. A mere 1.5 lakh Buddhists of Ladakh occupy a seat, as they must in all federal structures, at par with Jammu and Ladakh. The flood gates that could open with an influx from the mainland will definitely wipe these small entities out.

Finally, scrapping of the special laws would close the last opening for reconciliation in Kashmir and therefore in South Asia. Handing out a final defeat to people of the state at the hands of their own country would come in a situation where even status quo could mean victory for them, so necessary for redeeming the 70 year-old jumla of winning hearts and minds of Kashmir.

Their Lordships are the only hope in preventing that disaster as their peers have done in the past. It may only be a judicial issue, but in it could be seeds of the future — whether we continue planting chinars in Kashmir or thorny bushes from the scorched plains of the country.

Source: Indian Express, 10/08/2018

Does the anti-trafficking Bill address trafficking?

The Bill goes beyond criminalisation; it tries to combat the organised nature of trafficking

India took a giant step towards the protection of its women and children when the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2013. Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was substituted with Sections 370 and 370A, which defined trafficking and laid out the punishment for it. However, mere criminalisation of trafficking is not enough — several laws have not been implemented in letter and spirit in the absence of a comprehensive legislative framework. In the case of trafficking, data show that despite the 2013 law, there has been an increase in the number of victims of human trafficking. It is to tackle this menace that the comprehensive Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, was passed. Instead of mere criminalisation, the Bill seeks to systematically combat the organised nature of trafficking.

Multipronged approach

The Bill ties together the approaches of prevention, rescue and rehabilitation to create a robust policy framework against trafficking. It places at its core the rights and welfare of victims of human trafficking. There are aggravated forms of trafficking which have been introduced, such as trafficking for the purpose of begging, or bearing a child, or for the purpose of marriage or under the pretext of marriage by administering narcotic drugs, hormones, or chemical substances for the purposes of early sexual maturity, and so on. Under the Bill, prosecution under these offences will be made timely and efficient by special public prosecutors.

The Bill provides protection to witnesses. It also seeks to maintain the confidentiality of victims by recording their statements through video conferencing and by in camera proceedings. It states that there will be time-bound trials and repatriation of victims.

A rehabilitation fund has been introduced for the first time. This will be used for the physical, psychological and social well-being of victims. The Bill seeks to build the capacity of victims by providing capital, infrastructure, education and skill development to empower them to access justice and to prevent further trafficking.

For the first time, the National Anti-Trafficking Bureau will coordinate with authorities in foreign countries and international organisations, and facilitate inter-State and trans-border transfer of evidence and materials. It will strengthen the intelligence apparatus to improve the collection, collation and dissemination of operational intelligence. The Bureau will also coordinate actions and enforcement by various bodies or authorities established under this Bill. There will be State and District Anti-Trafficking Committees which will arrange for appropriate training and sensitisation of functionaries of all personnel.

It is crucial to note that trafficking is an organised crime. In order to break the organised nexus, at the national and international levels, the Bill proposes attachment and forfeiture of property and to remit the proceeds of crime in the rehabilitation fund. It will also freeze bank accounts of those whose funds have been utilised to facilitate trafficking. By doing this, the Bill handicaps the organised trafficking networks.

Systematic surveillance

The Bureau will also develop and monitor a database on every crime under this Act. Such systematic surveillance of offenders will, in about three years, not only help prevent trafficking but pre-empt it. The Bill does its bit. Now we must all come together to use it to deliver justice.

Source: The Hindu, 10/08/2018