Do it yourself

Last weekend I visited some villages in the Bareilly, Shahjehanpur and Hathras districts of Uttar Pradesh. I had an opportunity to speak with several medium, small and marginal farmers. Most medium sized farmers had a good standing crop of paddy and sugarcane. Most of them were, however, circumspect about the final yield, in view of the IMD’s forecast of excess rains in September. Many small and marginal farmers had lost their pulses and vegetable crops due to heavy rains accompanied by strong winds. They were dismayed and worried about their ability to manage the resources to plant Rabi crops, mostly potato and wheat. Some of them, who had taken advance from the traders, were also worried about the repayment. None of the small and marginal farmers mentioned the terms like crop insurance, bank loan, Kisan credit card, etc. Thankfully, there is an abundance of fodder for their cattle this time. After a discussion of 10-12hrs with these farmers, NGO workers helping them with farm...

  I have often seen that when we fail to find solutions to our problems with the help of science and economics, we tend to look towards the heavens and seek to find answers in philosophy. It is not uncommon for businesses, administrators, and policymakers to seek divine intervention when science and economics are not helping to resolve a problem. The global policymakers and administrators seem to have reached such a crossroads one more time, where the conventional practices, accumulated knowledge, and past experiences do not appear to be of much help. Their actions appear driven more by hope than conviction. The war in Ukraine; the economic slowdown in China; and the monetary policy dilemma in the US and India are some examples of problems where the administrators and policymakers seem to be hoping for divine intervention. I see the recent speech of the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium and the minutes of the last meeting of the monetary poli...