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Ashoka Mody

Ashoka Mody

34 commentaries

Ashoka Mody, a visiting professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton University, previously worked for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He is the author of India is Broken: A People Betrayed, Independence to Today (Stanford University Press, 2023).

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  1. India’s Poor Will Not Be Wished Away
    mody33_Shivam KhannaPacific PressLightRocket via Getty Images_india poverty Shivam Khanna/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

    India’s Poor Will Not Be Wished Away

    Mar 14, 2024 Ashoka Mody highlights the authorities’ ongoing failure to provide an accurate picture of growing economic hardship.

  2. The Slow Death of India’s Secular Democracy
    mody32_Kay Nietfeldpicture alliance via Getty Images_modi Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images

    The Slow Death of India’s Secular Democracy

    Jan 19, 2024 Ashoka Mody identifies the key moments and players in the rise, normalization, and political victory of Hindu nationalism.

  3. Ashoka Mody on Indian corruption, growth, jobs, and more
    Ashoka_Say-More_Ghersi-via-GettyRF

    Ashoka Mody on Indian corruption, growth, jobs, and more

    Sep 26, 2023 Ashoka Mody traces the roots of the lack of accountability in India, highlights shortcomings in human capital and gender equality, casts doubt on the country’s ability to assume a Chinese-style role in manufacturing, and more.

  4. India’s Fake Growth Story
    mody30_ Kabir JhangianiNurPhoto via Getty Images_g20 Kabir Jhangiani/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    India’s Fake Growth Story

    Sep 6, 2023 Ashoka Mody accuses the government of using faulty national accounting to cover up growing macroeconomic problems.

  5. Unlike China, India Cannot Be an Economic Superpower
    mody29-DIBYANGSHU SARKARAFP via Getty Images_INDIA DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images

    Unlike China, India Cannot Be an Economic Superpower

    Jul 28, 2023 Ashoka Mody explains why the hype around the country’s neoliberal policies and growth prospects is misguided.

  1. benami217_ ALBERTO PIZZOLIAFP via Getty Images)_ancient rome ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

    Why Rome Still Matters

    Shlomo Ben-Ami considers the ancient empire’s hold on the popular imagination and what its history has to teach us.
  2. hendy1_Sina Schuldtpicture alliance via Getty Images_maternity Sina Schuldt/picture alliance via Getty Images

    Egypt’s Skyrocketing C-Sections

    Rana Hendy & Lobna Shaheen urge policymakers to take decisive steps to address the inequalities fueling the rise in cesarean deliveries.
  3. caballero1_Sanjeev VermaHindustan Times via Getty Images_indiashopping Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

    Asia’s Consumer Tipping Point

    Juan Caballero & Wolfgang Fengler highlight a milestone that marks the transition from poverty to a more typical middle-class lifestyle.
  4. Rodrik_Say-More_Rawf8-via-GettyRF

    Kishore Mahbubani on the US-China rivalry, Asian security risks, and more

    Kishore Mahbubani offers advice to Western diplomats attempting to engage with Asia, identifies risks to the region’s stability, highlights Singapore’s lessons for developing-country leaders, and more.
  5. new delhi smog SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images

    Tracking Air Quality the Right Way

    Soumya Swaminathan & Christa Hasenkopf call for an authoritative global accounting of the world’s single greatest external risk to human health.
  6. buchholz19_Tayfun CoskunAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_aukus Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    Countries That March Together Should Trade Together

    Todd G. Buchholz urges the next US president to distinguish good from bad actors, rather than raise tariffs haphazardly.
  7. op_roubini1_GettyImages_USChinamoneysewedtogether Getty Images

    Resetting US-China Economic Relations

    Barry Eichengreen

    The implications of the deepening Sino-American rift are far-reaching, because several of the world’s most pressing economic problems can be solved only with contributions from both countries. And, to address global challenges, active cooperation between the two economic powers is indispensable.

    hopes that political will on both sides catches up with the opporunities for cooperation that now exist.
  8. gros189_Sean GallupGetty Images_germanypowerlines Sean Gallup/Getty Images

    The Improving Economics and Worsening Geopolitics of Clean Energy

    Daniel Gros warns that political obstacles are preventing the widespread uptake of low-cost green technologies.
  9. rajan94_Arvind YadavHindustan Times via Getty Images_indiasemiconductor Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

    Industrial Policy’s Deceptive New Clothes

    Raghuram G. Rajan

    If the new "industrial strategy" is offering ideas for better public governance, it is useful. But it becomes positively dangerous when it turns to the private sector, where state interventions inevitably undermine competition, disrupt price signals, and dampen the motivation to innovate.

    sees little reason to support the case for renewed government interventions in the private sector.

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