Experts have said for many years that subsidies do not reach the poor, the leakages are too many. The solution is direct transfer. (more…)

The other day I had a friendly argument with a colleague of mine saying entrepreneurship is all about (more…)

Large numbers boggle the imagination and the first reaction is to reject it. (more…)

A recent paper by Hanushek and Woessmann titled ‘Poor student learning explains the Latin American growth puzzle’ looks at why Latin America has performed badly, despite good educational levels.  They have put up an interesting graph linking skills to growth and not surprisingly Asia come out at the top, with Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa at the bottom of the line. The answer lies in the quality of schooling and improvement in cognitive skills. (more…)

The basic issue of contention in the matter of Land acquisition is who should have the rights to acquire land, the state or the private sector. Under ideal conditions with clear titles and ownership rights well defined the private developers should acquire the land at a market determined price and there are various possibilities to address the issue of bargaining equity. The problem, however arises when the land is too fragmented and private property rights are poorly assigned, the private sector will be chary to acquire land and will require state support. (more…)