http://www.akashkapur.com Akash Kapur's website Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:48:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 http://www.akashkapur.com/2010/03/speech-by-salman-rushdie/ http://www.akashkapur.com/2010/03/speech-by-salman-rushdie/#comments Wed, 24 Mar 2010 06:12:08 +0000 akash http://www.akashkapur.com/?p=598 A wonderful meditation on artistic freedom and tolerance (and intolerance) in India. Observations on the M. F. Hussain's situation. Overall, an enlightening and thought-provoking speech, from the India Today Conclave. Scroll down past the introduction to read Rushdie's speech.]]> http://www.akashkapur.com/2010/03/speech-by-salman-rushdie/feed/ 0 http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/12/interview-with-chidambaram/ http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/12/interview-with-chidambaram/#comments Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:56:34 +0000 akash http://www.akashkapur.com/?p=563 interview with the Indian Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, that recently ran in Tehelka. I've rarely seen such in-depth and engaged (and apparently sincere) conversation between a politician and a journalist in an Indian publication--or, in fact, any publication. It touches on many of the most serious problems confronting India at the moment.]]> http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/12/interview-with-chidambaram/feed/ 0 http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/08/490/ http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/08/490/#comments Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:14:31 +0000 akash http://www.akashkapur.com/?p=490 defended the government's stimulus plan by arguing that countries without substantial stimulus had done less well than those with a stimulus plan. She included India--along with France and Italy--on the list of countries that were doing less well. I'm confused. Isn't India expected to grow by 6-7% this year (and isn't the US's GDP expected to shrink)? Also, I wonder how she calculates the size of India's stimulus. Although it's true that the pure fiscal stimulus provided by the government is relatively small (around $4 billion last year), the country is also spending a fortune on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which, as many economists have argued, functions as a de facto stimulus, boosting income and consumption in rural areas. ]]> http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/08/490/feed/ 0 http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/08/why-are-so-many-writers-drunks/ http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/08/why-are-so-many-writers-drunks/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:58:09 +0000 akash http://www.akashkapur.com/?p=485 This fascinating piece from the Economist-affiliated Intelligent Life is full of interesting tidbits. Hemingway checking out books on liver damage from the library. Cheever, newly sober, finishing a book in a year. And a strange conclusion that "maximalist" writers should never get sober.]]> http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/08/why-are-so-many-writers-drunks/feed/ 0 http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/07/positively-orwellian/ http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/07/positively-orwellian/#comments Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:54:26 +0000 akash http://www.akashkapur.com/?p=457 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/18/amazon_removes_1984_from_kindle/ ]]> http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/07/positively-orwellian/feed/ 0 http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/07/why-do-intellectuals-oppose-capitalism/ http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/07/why-do-intellectuals-oppose-capitalism/#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:19:42 +0000 akash http://www.akashkapur.com/?p=299 this article by Robert Nozick that tries to explain why "wordsmith" intellectuals are anti-market. I'm not sure I'm totally convinced, but his hypothesis--essentially, that they resent their low valuation in a capitalist economy--is nonetheless interesting reading. (I studied with Nozick as an undergraduate, in a course called something like "Socrates, Buddha, Jesus"!)]]> http://www.akashkapur.com/2009/07/why-do-intellectuals-oppose-capitalism/feed/ 0