1

2

WHO SCRIBBLED?

Minakshi Singh (S.Y.B.A.)

Nikita Sharma (S.Y.B.A.)

Prashant Maheshwary (S.Y.B.A.)

Prahniika Borkar (S.Y.B.A.)

Aayush Asthana (F.Y.B.A.)

Damini Kane (F.Y.B.A.)

Kartik Jaishankar (F.Y.B.A.)

Maduvanti Srinivasan (F.Y.B.A.)

Vaibhavi Parmar (F.Y.B.A.)

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Hiresh Suvarna (S.Y.B.A.) for the

Photographs

Mrs. Riddhi Modi

WHO FIXED IT?

Aanchal Jain (T.Y.B.A.)

Nihaarika Ravi (T.Y.B.A.)

(Editors-in-chief)

WHO HELPED?

Jayati Trivedi (S.Y.B.A.)

Nikita Sharma

Jaai Vipra (S.Y.B.A.)

Maduvanti Srinivasan

Vaibhavi Parmar

WHO MADE IT LOOK

GOOD?

Nihaarika Ravi

Prashant Maheshwary

3

FOREWORD The Contrarian is a small yet significant addition to the department of economics.

We personally think it is like the last block of a puzzle, it completes the entire picture.

This third edition Annual Economics Magazine has definitely taken a leap from the

previous edition. For starters, we have a central theme to the Magazine called

‘Economics & _____’ which essentially explains the presence of theories taught in the

classroom in our practical real lives. So we asked our writers to hand pick anything

around them and investigate the economics involved in it.

Also, the cover page couldn't be any truer to the theme. The relationship between

Yin and Yang is that of interdependence. They constantly transform into each other,

the weaving is almost beautiful. Yin creates Yang and Yang activates Yin. Similarly, a

little introspection would make us realize that Economics creates and activates

various aspects of life and vice-versa. Elaborating on our magazine cover, the Yin

shows the economics part of life whereas Yang shows the areas that have been

investigated by our brilliant writers.

Another major highlight for the first time is that The Contrarian is covering

Arthanomics - The First Ever Intra-College Festival of Jai Hind College. We have also

featured the making and history of the Economics Association Logo, which should

be an interesting read. In addition to this, we have included the much asked for

'Trivia Section'. A small humorous attempt to view Economics from a slightly twisted

tangent.

Before we leave you to explore the work of our young economists, I would like to

extend my gratitude to all our economics professors Mrs. Sarita Jaishankar, Mrs.

Vaidehi Dhamankar, Mrs. Mousumi Mazumdar and Ms. Heena Thakkar, all the office

bearers and members of the Economics Association who were the driving force

behind this accomplishment. And a special Thank you to Team, The Contrarian. Yes

we did it! We hope the baton is passed on and the good work is continued. This one

has been a ride.

Aanchal Jain

Nihaarika Ravi

(Editors-in-chief)

4

FROM THE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT

I would like to begin my note by congratulating the students of the

Economics Association for successfully bringing out the third edition of “The

Contrarian” – the Annual Economics Magazine. It is a magazine of the

students, for the students and by the students and we all are proud to say so.

The students have made a constant endeavour to take the magazine from

heights to heights in terms of creativity and content and I want to

congratulate them for achieving the qualitative improvement. Well done

Aanchal, Nihaarika and the whole team!

This academic year was a landmark in the history of Economics Association

for more than one reason. Firstly, there were a number of progressive

changes introduced in the structure of the executive body with addition of

new posts which were not limited only to the TYs. The first and second year

students were included to ensure total involvement and they were allowed to

vote as well as stand for elections. The association also opened its

membership to students of all faculties and found a positive response. Today

we have almost 150 members in the association from across faculties and

together we have been forming winning teams as we represent Jai Hind

College in various events.

Secondly, we now have an official logo for the association signifying what

the association stands for. This was the result of creative inputs and efforts of

Kruttika and Nihaarika. Great job, girls!

The proudest moment for the association was the inception of “Arthanomics”

– an intra-college Economics Festival which we hope will garner the required

support from the college and turn into an inter-college “quality” event soon.

This two-day event held in the month on July, 2013 brought out the hidden

potential of our students as it gave an opportunity to almost every student to

participate. The enthusiasm with which every event was organised spoke for

itself. The great success of Arthanomics was a result of the team work of all

students under the capable leadership of Kruttika.

Under the able leadership of Bineet and Divya, our event heads, the

economics association students went on to participate with full fervour in

numerous inter-college events, within Mumbai and outside, and made a

mark for themselves.

5

The icing on the cake was the success of our students at the placements

where we bagged a post in the best of companies such and Ernst & Young,

JLL, KPMG etc. Pratul Narayan, our placement head ensured that our

students did not miss any chance and proactively worked towards it, Keep it

up, Pratul!

Under the able organisational ability of our social event head, Vidhya Jain,

we made an enlightening trip to Govardhan Village which is based on an

eco-friendly technology driven by ex-IITians. It was an amazing experience for

all. Good job, Vidhya!

The backbone of all our success has been our team of office bearers who

have been led by Katyani and supported by the juniors Prashant, Urvashi,

Aayush and Kartik. A big congratulations to all! Keep the flag of Economics

Association flying high!

Last but not the least, I would like to comment on the theme of this year’s

magazine “Economics &___” which truly captures the main goal of our

students. They want to go beyond the defined realms of the subject and

explore the unexplored. With an eye on the horizon, the students of the

association believe in growth beyond borders and without shackles – all our

activities this year have been reflective of this mood and I hope we continue

to evolve in the same manner.

Sarita Jai Shankar

Acting Head of Department, Economics

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7

8

War isn’t just about hate and politics. Explaining the dynamics of a war, Vaibhavi Parmar

exposes the underworld of Economics in a war.

Since the dawn of history, people

have fought against each other.

Modern warfare differs from the olden

times where war was just restricted to

battlefields. Warfare disrupts a nation

politically, socially and economically.

Economics has always been intimate

to war as it is impossible to fully

understand either topic without some

knowledge of the other. The following

article will throw light on the various

ways wars and economies are related.

The basic aim of an economy during

war is to prepare and sustain it for war

production and war related activities.

There are theories that state a war is

good for the economy. The reasoning

for this theory is that production during

wartime increases greatly. During a

war producers operate at full capacity

without catering to the preferences of

the consumers. For example during

World War 2 Roosevelt called for the

production of 60,000 aircrafts during

1942-a goal many industrialists felt was

impossible to achieve. Yet U.S. war

plants churned out nearly 86,000

planes the following year. To deal with

the increase in output the companies

will employ more labour reducing

unemployment rate. As the

unemployment rate goes down the

people would spend more, benefitting

other sectors. This logic has been

considered as flawed by many

economists like Frédéric Bastiat author

of ‘That which is Seen, and That which is Not Seen'.

An effective argument to the notion

that war is good for the economy is

contradicted by a concept called the

‘Broken Window Fallacy’ which states

that destruction and its subsequent

costs are not economically feasible.

Replacing something that has already

been purchased is a maintenance

cost, not the purchase of a new good,

and maintenance doesn't stimulate

production. Another very important

argument that supports the fact that

wars aren’t conductive for the growth

and development of an economy is

the post war situation. The same

products and services which faced an

exorbitant demand during the days of

wars such as food, medicines and

even arms and ammunition for that

matter falls down massively. Since the

demand starts’ decreasing the supply

of those products also starts falling. This

subsequently leads to a lower

requirement of labour eventually

swelling up unemployment. Thus, all of

these conditions post war pose as

participants of a vicious circle in the economy.

The government during war has

greater control over the economy. It

brings in ‘rationing’ in the market. This

enables citizens to buy only a limited

amount of necessary items. Many

Americans experienced ‘meatless and

wheatless’ days during the World War

1. Also the government emphasises

production of war goods making other

necessities like clothes etc. more

expensive because of high demand.

The war efforts can be funded

primarily using three methods: by

increasing taxes, decreasing spending

other areas or increasing debt.

Increasing taxes on the people

reduces their spending because it cuts

into their real income. For example in

World War 2 U.S.A. saw tax rate on

highest incomes reach 94 percent. A

decrease in the spending by a nation

means a decrease in the amount of

money being circulated in the

9

economy. Increasing the debt of the

nation would mean an increase in

taxes for the people in the future or

decrease in spending of the

government, both of which are

harmful to progress. Thus war economy

is quite detrimental in the short run as well as the long run.

In modern times there can be several

reasons why nations fight. Economics

though not wholly the cause for war

can certainly be a major contributing

factor. For example the economic

consequences of World War 1 proved

a major reason to as to why World War

2 happened. World War 1 had

destroyed the economies and

exhausted the resources of the

countries that had participated. Italy

and Japan tried to solve the problem

of too few resources by means of

territorial expansion. The Great

Depression of 1929 that began in

United States halted whatever

economic recovery Europe had

managed to achieve post war. The

Great Depression which gave rise to

mass unemployment and poverty

caused despair among the people.

These feelings made the people

support any government which could

end these problems and give them

economic stability even though it

meant supporting any extreme

political movement. Germany’s Nazi

party gained fabulous support during

the great depression, and it is this party

that would later go to war. Thus a

combination of economic reasons

coupled with various socio political

reasons can be the push a country

needs to go to war.

War requires a heavy amount of

resources, especially capital. For an

apt example, we can look at the

aftermath of World War 1. By 1918 the

war was costing about $10 million an

hour. Most of the nations fell into a

huge debt. Additionally governments

also printed extra currency which

caused severe inflation after the war.

The money spent on the war effort, is

money that cannot be spent on food,

health care or other areas. The stimulus

felt in one sector of the economy

comes at a direct but hidden cost to

other sectors. Apart from destruction

of its fixed capital and infrastructure

the country loses its able workforce

too. France, for example, after World

War 1 had lost one tenth of its

workforce. A lot of businesses shut

down after workers leave for military

service. Also the reparation cost post

war can add to the debt of a nation.

Thus economic reparations after a war

can be quite cumbersome.

Though Economic warfare is

considered a relatively inexpensive

complement to war activities, there’s

no denying its usefulness. Some

common means of economic warfare

are trade embargoes, tariff

discrimination, boycotts, sanctions,

freezing of capital assets, the

prohibition of investment and so on.

However the success of economic

warfare is not always guaranteed. If

one country denies resources to

another, the latter can produce

resources internally or get them from

somewhere else. For example the

United States in an attempt to remove

Fidel Castro from power in Cuba

maintained a decades-long embargo,

however this did not work as Cuba got

its resources from elsewhere like

Mexico, Canada, and Western

Europe. Economic warfare is an

important concept to war as its very

essence is to block the enemy country

from getting war assets; this in turn weakens their ability to fight.

Thus economics and war have a very

close affiliation to one another. War

and economics is fascinating to study

together because of its scope,

practical applications and its presence in history.

10

From Small Wonder to Grey’s Anatomy,

Indian TV viewership has undergone

massive changes. Aayush Asthana explains

the trends

The television has been a favorite

medium of entertainment ever since its

conception, having withstood the

boom of other mediums such as the

internet and smartphones. Perhaps the

biggest contributors to its greatness

are the omnipresent TV shows that

have been designed to engage and

entertain viewers.

Since TV shows have always been a

profitable business it makes sense to

say that this industry has steadily been

carving a bigger slice for themselves in

the entire entertainment industry, with

increasingly huge fan bases, and a

growing reach with the global audience.

Producers realize this and are not

hesitant to make massive investments

where they see potential; the scale of

undertaking of shows has reached

dizzy figures. Most of the tv shows are

sponsored by broadcasting

companies. Producers shell out

astronomical amounts of money to

ensure quality content. If the audience

is satisfied then the shows gain

popularity, this in turn ensures that the

producers enjoy a lion’s share of the

profits reaped through sources like

broadcast rights, reruns, sale of DVDs

and show related merchandise and

selling of advertisement slots during the show.

Breaking Bad, another TV show,

following its much anticipated series

finale, boasts of similarly impressive

figures. Shooting the show cost its

network AMC about $3 million per

episode in 2010, and $3.5 million per

episode in its final season. The show’s

last 16 episodes cost approximately

$56 million to produce. In fact,

Breaking Bad fan Jeffrey Katzenberg,

co-founder of Dreamworks, offered to

pay $25 million per episode to

produce three more episodes. That’s a

total of $75 million, at an average of $568,000 per minute of final air length.

Although sometimes the financial

organizations behind these shows bite

off more than they can chew,

Consider the historical drama Rome -

a show co-produced by two media

giants - HBO and BBC - The first season

was produced at the staggering

budget of US$100–110 million and

although the show was renewed for a

second season, it was cancelled after

that due to spiraling costs, which co-

producer BBC would have struggled to meet.

How do they recover investments of

this magnitude? It is only a TV show!

But, the returns of such successful

investments are also huge. AMC

extended the runtime of the last two

episodes of Breaking Bad from 44 to 54

minutes – 75 minutes apiece with

commercials – and raised its

advertising rates to as much as

$400,000 per 30-second spot making

sure their investment pays off. The 21

minutes of commercial airtime in

“Felina,” the show’s final episode, has

earned the network around $7-8

million in advertising revenue alone.

Also the sales of DVDs help boost

revenue. The first season box set of

Game of Thrones sold 350,000 copies

in the first seven days of its release—

the largest first-week DVD sales for any

HBO show ever. The second season

box set sold 241,000 copies on the first

day of its release.

Threat to TV channels

11

Services like Netflix, the provider of on-

demand streaming of movies and TV

shows, indicate a shift in consumer

trends. Viewers seem to favor the

convenience of Netflix’s available

collection of their favorite TV shows, as

opposed to paying subscriptions to a

whole bunch of other premium cable

services. Netflix’s shares have

increased by 10% in late 2013 after

announcing it had passed 40 million

subscribers, over-taking Time Warner’s

HBO channel. Netflix also reported

income growth from US$7.7 million to

$31.8 million from the last quarter. This

can also be attributed to Netflix’s

efforts to provide original

programming with recent hits like

House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Hemlock Grove.

One of the most troublesome worries

for shows one is piracy. Game of

Thrones was the most pirated show of

last year, with a single episode being

downloaded 4.6 million times- more

than HBO’s entire viewership for that episode.

India and US TV shows

A good chunk of online pirates of US

TV shows happen to be Indians. Often,

this piracy arises out of necessity-

although an expanding number of

young, urban Indians enjoy and follow

American TV shows; they usually have

to wait many frustrating months after

the content’s original airing for Indian

rebroadcasting channels to show it.

Even then, the numbers of TV shows

that reach Indians are limited. And

with prime services such as Netflix not

being available in the country,

resorting to piracy and illegal

downloading becomes the most convenient answer.

Recognizing this, a number of English

general entertainment channels such

as AXN India, Star World, Zee Café and

other networks are going the extra

mile to air popular shows closer to their

US premiere—from negotiating hard

with US studios to having their

employees edit scenes so as to suit the

Indian television’s, more conservative

approach to entertainment.

AXN India, the channel owned

by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.,

launched Hannibal within 24 hours of

its international launch in the US in April

2013. The new channel Star World

Premiere was launched with the

specific aim of airing new shows and

new seasons at almost the same instant as their US airing.

English-language entertainment

programming, however, is still a niche

market in India, reaching less than 1

percent of 800 million viewers, But

Kevin Vaz, Sales Head, Star World India

says “Even the top 1 percent is a huge audience in terms of numbers.”

We can see US TV shows have found a

market in India and this is just the

beginning, with the Indian television

industry projected to be worth 848

billion rupees ($13.7 billion) by 2017, US

production companies will

undoubtedly keep a watchful eye

over Indian television trends, because

a marriage between these two

industries is surely a win-win situation.

12

It is one of the most widely used mode of transport. Yet, its operation confounds and amuses

us. Madhuvanti Srinivasan gives you all the gyaan on our Indian Railways.

The Indian Railways successfully

completed 160 years of its existence this

year. With a modest and humble genesis

in 1853 between Bombay and Thane, the

Indian Railways is supposedly one of those

railway organizations in the world which is

a surplus generating enterprise.

Considered to be one of the benefits left

behind in India by the British, the Indian

Railways are very rightly called the

“Catalyst of Socio-Economic

Development”. The Indian Railways is a

mammoth industry accounting for 1% of

the GNP. It includes a route of 65,000 km

with 7,500 stations. The operations cover

substantial Indian territory of and also

provide limited international services our

neighbours ., The rolling stock includes

239,281 freight wagons, 59,713 passenger

coaches and 9,549 locomotives which

transport 24 million passengers and 2.8

million tons of freight daily.

This state owned enterprise observes

revenues in billions. It earns US$17 billion

out of which US$11 billion is from freight

and US$4.4 billion is from passenger tickets.

Passenger and Coach Earnings have

registered an increase of 11.35 percent

and 11.05 percent respectively. The

number of passengers has registered an

increase of 2.35 percent. These figures also

majorly contribute to the 9 percent growth

of our Indian Economy.

Fines from offenses and advertisements

also contribute to the earnings if the INR.

The monthly revenue of the Suburban Rail

Network includes 6.7 lakhs by offences

and 8.27 lakhs by advertisements.

Bollywood and its iconic railways scenes

are also dear to the INR. CR alone earned

Rs. 1.02 crore from film shootings with the

authorities raking almost Rs. 91 lakhs in just

three months.

In terms of employment railways are

crucial to India. Being the world’s ninth

largest employer with almost 1.4 million

employees it accounts for 6% of the total

employment in the organized sector and

an additional 2.5% indirectly through its

dependent organizations. Welfare of the

state and railways share a close

relationship; the latter has played a chief

role in sectors like health and education.

With its vast network of schools and

training institutes the IR‘s contribution to

Human Resource Development is often

overshadowed. In the 2002 droughts of

Rajasthan and Gujarat, IR was central in

transporting food and other relief

packages to the people, thus intensifying

its role in the sector of public service. The

operation of the “Lifeline Express”

intensifies its role in the sector of health by

providing medical facilities to people in

the backward regions of our country and

is also called the Hospital-on-wheels.

Tourism is grateful to Indian railways too.

The IR operates certain special operations

to boost tourism and the subsequent cash

flow in the economy which include ‘The

Palace on Wheels’ - a joint venture with

the Ministry of Tourism of Rajasthan, ‘The

Deccan Odyssey’ which is a joint venture

with the Tourism Ministries of Maharashtra

and Goa and ‘The Golden Chariot’ which

is a joint venture with the Tourism Ministries

of Karnataka and Goa.

Railways are called the lifeline of the

country for good reason. It connects

manufacturing centers with markets and

13

sources of raw materials facilitating

industrial development. It also links

agricultural production centers with

lucrative distant market for better and

efficient distribution of goods. IR provides

rapid, cost-effective and reliable bulk

transportation to the energy sectors .i.e.

moving coal from coal field to power

plants and petroleum products from

refineries to consumption centers. Lastly, it

serves as a strong nexus between all the

places of our country subsequently

enabling low cost, rapid and large scale

movement of masses across the length

and breadth of our nation.

The Indian Railways is 6 times more energy

efficient and 4 times more economical

than the prevalent roadways. The

environmental damage or degradation

caused by the Railways is much less. The

cost of construction is 6 times lower than

the cost of construction of roads and it is

the only mode of transportation which is

capable of using any form of primary

energy. Also, the Indian Railway network

has reduced the cost of trading, reduced

inter-regional price gaps and has

increased trade volumes. When a rail

network gets extended to an average

district, the real agricultural income in the

district rose by approximately 16%. The

connectivity that IR provides to the

country also increases the efficiency of

labor markets. For instance, a worker from

a backward region in Bihar who was

getting Rs.35 per day working in his village

now finds it convenient to migrate to

Mumbai and earn Rs.200 a day, further

accelerating economic growth.

However, a few drawbacks haunt the

Indian Railways. The manufacturing

capacity of freight wagons, passenger

coaches and locomotives of this country is

very weak and limited because of which

India loses almost US$45 billion annually.

Thus, a lot of economists feel that allowing

a 100% privatization will increase the

investment in the railway sector enabling

us to tackle the logistics issues. However,

fearing its private sector rivals, the IR has

still put the Privatization Bill on hold. Also,

there have been talks of allowing FDI in

the railway sector to again construct and

maintain railway lines, ports and stations

but there hasn’t any progress on that front.

The Indian Railways under the stewardship

of the Ministry of Railways has always been

providing the nation with phenomenal

outputs and results and also has been

successfully fulfilling its duties. However

with changing demographics and

increasing demand, The Indian Railways

will have to encourage Privatization and

Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) with the

required governmental intervention to

enable the Railway to grow and develop

on rightful lines and to also bring about a

positive metamorphosis in the system

which will prove to be lucrative for both

the elite and the impoverished classes and

to also finally stand by its motto that is to

serve as “The Lifeline Of This Nation”.

14

-

The economics of policies is a complicated affair. Prashant Maheshwary simplifies it.

Most of us today wonder as to what has

gone so incredibly wrong with our

economy. A country, which was once the

hotspot for all western investments and

businesses, now seems to be the

godforsaken place wherein no

western/Indian investor wants to invest. So

what has gone wrong? Some blame it on

the bad governance, policy paralysis and

domestic problems while others blame it

on the international parameters like the

improving the American economy. The

situation gets even more complicated

because almost all the Indian states have

recorded a steady growth rate, which

gives all the more reason to journalists,

critics and activists to pull up the central government.

According to me, the current chaotic

situation is a mix of all these parameters

and a few others but one reason that

stands out is “bad policy decisions”. But

let’s not be fooled by this steady and

rather impressive growth rate of each

state because the law of behavioural

economics states that micro level

behaviour is often different from that of

the macro level. This means that even

though each state in the country is

growing steadily, it doesn’t ensure that the country as a whole will grow as well.

Inflation, Current Account deficit and

Fiscal deficit have gone through the roof

while Rupee has rapidly devalued and

government has woken up too late to

control them. Although they may be

partially correct in blaming the current

Indian scenario on the international

incidents like market slowdown and

improving American economy, a lot is also the fault of the governing body.

For example, in order to control the current

account deficit, the government

increased the import duty on gold from 6%

to 8%. Such an indefinite rise in the import

duty saw an 80% slump in gold imports but

this in turn led to rampant gold smuggling

creating more problems for the

government. This is an example of bad

policy decision because the government

could have increased the import duty for

a specific period of time till the current

account deficit contracted. So those who

invested in gold/ bought gold would wait

till the import duty is reduced thereby

automatically avoiding headaches like that of smuggling.

Government has also attracted much

criticism with the latest food security bill

and the land acquisition bill. I personally

believe that the passing of a bill such as

the food security bill is inevitable in a

country like India where vote-bank politics is practiced with much vehemence.

For example, in 2012 India produced a

surplus of 10000 tons of food grains which

served as buffer stock but to meet the

criteria of the food security bill, India will

have to produce an excess of 40,000 tons

of food grains. Looking at the current

situation of the Indian agriculture, it could

be rather impossible to increase

production by 70% overnight which means

that India will end up importing food grains

which is going to further strain the current

account deficit and fiscal budget.

Moreover the government has failed to

integrate this scheme with other state level

schemes floated by regional governments

leading to unnecessary give-away and

wastages of food. The current economic

situation should have ideally given the

Food security bill a red signal till the time

such a policy was deemed feasible for the

economy, but with the Congress going to

elections in 2014 such a step is rather expected of a political party.

Same can be said about the land

acquisition bill which completely favours

the farmers and serves as a deterrent to

potential investors who want to set up a

plant in India. The current land acquisition

bill will require up to 5 years in order to just

acquire land in the country, something

that’s surely not going to help boost an investor’s confidence.

15

International incidents like the Euro

slowdown and improving American

economy is also responsible to some extent.

The Indian exports have declined by 1.76%

in 2012-13. The Euro slowdown has led to

the decrease of exports of Indian

commodities thereby affecting India’s

current account deficit. Moreover the

expiry of the **GSP (generalized system of

preferences) treaty with the USA is going

to further affect the net Indian exports. But

the lack of urgency shown by the

government in renewing the GSP treaty

with the USA is another bad policy

example. The complete mix up of priorities

has bloated to current account deficit to 4.4% of the GDP

There is also a considerable amount of

change in USA’s policy (like that of ending

“quantitative easing”). The new policies

have hit the developing nations like India,

really hard. Subsequently there is a

complete shift of equilibrium and

migration of investment from the emerging

economies to the Western developed

world. Therefore, along with the influx of

investment and printing of new currency

American economy has improved at the cost of emerging markets.

But let’s not fool ourselves by completely

blaming the Westerners for our condition

because India is at the bottom of all the

tables consisting of all the emerging

economies and this is majorly because of

its own domestic problems. The current

account deficit as stated earlier consumes

4.4% of GDP; fiscal deficit is 4.5% of GDP

while the highly volatile Rupee is currently

at 63.

India is still a very huge market but lack of

pro-investors policies has hugely damaged

the potential of this country. For example,

India is ranked 152nd out of 170 nations

when it comes to ease of starting

businesses. Neither the foreign nor the

Indian investors have any kind of

confidence in India’s highly volatile and

unreliable economy. Policies like that of

retrospective taxation have taken the

country 30 years back. Bad policy

decisions have greatly damaged the

potential of this huge market. I believe

that problems of “bad policy decisions”

can be avoided if there is certain body in

place which can comprehensively review

a newly proposed policy. The CWC

(Congress Working Committee) would

obviously be unsuitable to perform the

required task as the review would be

politically biased and not independent.

The only organization that has the required

infrastructure and ability is the Planning

Commission. Their assessment will also be

politically independent and thereby purely

based on merit. Such an organization

exists in the USA too, wherein the body has

helped in discarding policies that seems to

be a burden rather than a problem solver.

India too, needs such a body in order to

get their policy decisions right. Therefore till

such a reviewing body is not put in place,

till then there will no bifurcation between progressive and regressive policies.

** [GSP is a way of improving the growth in

the developing world by providing

preferential duty-free entry for up to 5,000

products]

16

Kartik Jaishankar recently started a gourmet food service. He gives all the economics you

need to know before you find those perfectly monogrammed chef whites.

“It's a very, very difficult space to

operate in, the restaurant business-it

requires a lot of human beings to

intersect at just the right place to

make it all work out.” says the popular

American chef Rocco DiSpirito. When

one thinks of starting a restaurant, they

imagine it to be as simple as cooking

food and serving it to customers. But

let me tell you, there is so much more

that goes into opening a restaurant,

that sometimes you wonder how so

many people are doing it, and doing it

well.

I have been working on a restaurant

venture with a few friends of mine, and

we are starting a chain of restaurants

which will serve premium gourmet

food to working professionals. I would

like to run you through the process of

starting up a restaurant, right from the

conception of the idea to the execution.

The first and most important factor is

THE IDEA. The idea has to be different

but at the same time viable. For this,

one needs to construct multiple

business models, and see which one is

the most achievable. An in depth

market research is required, to find out

the competition as well as the target audience.

Once the market research is

conducted, the execution process

begins. The entire structure of the business is broadly divided into:

1) Corporate: This segment deals with

getting finances to carry out the

business and organising all the

required licenses for running the

business. The capital required to set up

a restaurant is usually quite high, which

is why most people take loans or seek

investors for their business. While

investments are helpful, they come

with a large amount of restrictions.

Investors take almost all control of the

business, leaving you with no room for

creativity and originality. Which is why,

I would recommend taking loans

rather than throwing your business into the hands of your investors.

Getting licenses for a restaurant is the

most exhausting part of the entire

process of setting it up, but at the

same time it is the most important too.

There are about 42 licenses required to

legally set up a restaurant, all the way

from BMC Health License (to serve

food and liquor) to something as

absurd as ‘Permission to operate more

than two cylinders of gas at a time’.

2) Food: Within this segment, we look

at two important aspects:

First and foremost is the ‘Menu

Development’. Menu development

involves deciding which items to put

on the menu, finding the best possible

recipes for them, and conducting

regular taste tests to check the quality

of these items. Now the Indian palate

is a very restrictive one. Somewhere

between mastering an international

cuisine and “Indianizing” the dish, the

focus is lost. So the dishes have to be

chosen in such a way that- on one

hand, they please the Indian palate,

and on the other hand, they retain their very essence and soul.

Second is the supply chain. Supply

chain deals with breaking down every

single dish into their basic ingredients,

17

locating the best sources of these

ingredients and then working in close

contact with these suppliers to get a

constant year round supply of these

ingredients. The kind of ingredients one

chooses is based on the price they will

charge on their final product. A local

Chinese restaurant would choose

cheap, local, inorganic vegetables

while a restaurant like Yauatcha or

Royal China would choose the finest

produce from around the world. This is

why the ‘Chinese Bhel’ in our canteen

costs Rs.35 and a portion of Chicken

Dumplings at Royal China cost Rs.350.

The other major factor that one is

concerned with in Supply Chain is

identifying good suppliers who will

provide the supplies on time and

regularly. The quantities required by

restaurants are measured in METRIC

TONNES, so you can only imagine the

impact of one late delivery truck full of

vegetables.

3) Infrastructure: Location, rent and

fabrication of the restaurant come

under infrastructure. Location is an

extremely important element which

can make or break the business. For a

restaurant to be successful, it has to be

located in the right place. A number

of factors help to decide the location

of a restaurant, namely, cost of land,

rent, accessibility, visibility, surrounding

environment, competition within the

area, and the type of population in

the area. While one outlet of California

Pizza Kitchen (CPK) in Phoenix Mills

enjoys great business, another outlet of

the same restaurant chain located in

Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) goes

empty for days on end. This shows that,

merely the location of a restaurant affects its business so greatly.

4) Hiring and Training: No venture can

be successful without a good team.

More specifically, in the case of a start-

up restaurant, the team is required to

be extremely passionate and

attached to the project, because

there is no guaranteed success. Start-

ups involve a major risk element, but

with a strong team of competent

members, sky is the limit. After hiring an

experienced staff, they are required to

be trained, in order to face customers on a day-to-day basis.

5) Marketing: Once the idea has been

put into action and the restaurant is

ready for launch, marketing begins.

Marketing is important to draw the

attention of the target audience to

the restaurant, build a large consumer

base and gain loyalty of these

customers over time. One can market

their restaurant by using social media

platforms, advertising on television,

providing freebies to customers and

other such activities that attract the target audience.

In the initial phase of the business, it is

rare to make large profits. At this

stage, it is most important to build the

name of the brand and serve the best

quality of food consistently. It is a risky

business, since the competition is

abundant, but an innovative business

idea backed by a strong team is the

recipe for success. The point to

remember is- to BE UNIQUE. There are

too many restaurants doing the same

thing, for yours to stand out amongst

theirs. As Ray Kroc, the Founder of

McDonald’s said “If I had a brick for

every time I’ve repeated the phrase

Quality, Service, Cleanliness and

Value, I think I’d probably be able to

bridge the Atlantic Ocean with them.”

The unique selling point of McDonald’s

is quality service, cleanliness, and

value for money, and that is what

made Ray Kroc’s McDonald’s venture

an overnight success. And could maybe, make yours too.

18

Van Gogh might have not thought about his economic aspirations while painting but

eventually it became a business. Minakshi Singh attempts to look beyond just the figures in a

painting.

So you thought Economics and Arts is

not bound to be a joint entity? Well,

the most probable notion held by the

majority is that economics is

associated with the day to day living.

However, the realm of it is not

confined to it but has a profound

impact on many spheres. Its vastness is

unparalleled. It influences the

sociological and cultural context too,

thereby affecting the idea of art and

literature. Economics and Art might

sound vague together but art heavily

depends on the economic strategies.

It doesn’t indicate that every piece of

art depends on it but the ones which

possess symbolic and creative content

do. They include museums, paintings,

performing arts, library, historic

buildings, archaeological sites, cinema

and music publishing. Classical

Economist Adam Smith once stated

that it is impossible to value cultural

goods. While the value for other goods

vary because of the marginal utility

attained from it, the value for cultural

goods have an opposite effect as

more consumption yields more utility.

There is no depreciation in it as the

consumer looks for quality more than

quantity.

Cultural goods are increasingly

becoming important components of

the modern-economy and

knowledge-based society. The most

frequently invoked argument is that

art, whatever its form, is a public good.

It benefits not only those who attend

or see it, and who pay for it, but also

benefits all other consumers, who do

not necessarily wish to contribute

voluntarily to its production or to its

preservation (sometimes because they

are not yet born), and free-ride.

Maintaining this heritage obviously

implies costs, and these costs are

increasing. The huge differences are

largely motivated by the hierarchy of

genres in the artistic culture of the

time. Economic reasons made new

19

artistic genres not only to develop, but

also to flourish in this and the following centuries.

Art investments have a huge rage and

are widely considered as a wise way

to make money. Economists are of the

view that it is essentially preferred by

the super-super rich crowd and they

call them as Ultra High Net Worth

Individuals (U.H.N.W.I). Benjamin

Mandel, an economist at the Federal

Reserve Bank of New York, has been

studying the art market and, he says,

“It’s a great way to study asset price

valuations. The art market has

experienced several transitions in

many aspects of the economic

activity. Moreover, the bandwagon

effect caters to larger audience since

it’s a conspicuous consumption and

there is competition in aesthetics. It is

believed that the arts could prosper

only under conditions of collective

ownership of the means of production,

either through conversion to a socialist

state or through a communist

revolution. But the income distribution

of artists is also markedly skewed and

there exist superstars, whose earnings are impressive.”

The sixties and seventies saw a

growing market for contemporary art

which blossomed with the auction in

1973 of 50 art works (paintings and

sculptures) by contemporary art

collector Robert Skull. The total

revenue gathered by the sale was

$2,200,000 including $240,000 paid for

Jasper John's "Double White Map"

(1965) and $180,000 paid for Willem de

Kooning's "Police Gazette" (1955).The

big sales of contemporary works by

living artists continued through the

eighties, peaking with the sale of de

Kooning's "Interchange" for $20.7

million in 1989, a year which witnessed

the sale of Van Gogh's "Portrait of

Doctor Gachet" for $82.5 million.

Many economists say that art can’t

be in a fizz because, frankly, it’s not

much of an investment in the first

place. Unlike stocks, an artwork’s price

reflects numerous non-financial

intangibles, like the pleasure of owning

a painting or, perhaps more important,

its ability to signal the owner’s vast

wealth and erudition. While stocks can

provide an ongoing payment stream

(via dividends) and are traded in

public markets, art collectors must pay

to protect their investments. It’s also

much harder for collectors to resell

expensive art. Not only is the market

opaque, but few artists having real

long-term value — Jasper Johns and

Andy Warhol are rarities. Sergey

Skaterschikov, who publishes an

influential art-investment report, says

that no painting bought for $30 million

or more has ever been resold at a

profit.

Between 1929 and 1945 the art market

was branded by the consequence of

the depression, followed by the

Second World War. Then, in the late

nineteen fifties, a new sort of art

market established, in which

according to Reitlinger, buyers looking

for old masters surpassed the available

supply and turned their attention to

"the inferior prizes" thereby bidding up prices.

The trend of art overlapping with the

economic effect is perhaps of cyclic

nature. One might deduce that the

motive of art is to emphasize visual

inclination whereas its business has a

secondary share is not true.

The association shared by Economics

and Art is not ambiguous or elusive. Art

involves Value and Economics studies

Value and this is enough to prove their affiliation.

20

Religion is the opium of people. But opium has a price and so does religion. And everything

that has a price has a market. Damini Kane’s analysis.

When Marx compares religion to opium,

he’s basically saying that it’s something

you can buy in dark alleyways. It’s

something you get addicted to,

something you get high on. It’s something

that can be sold. And, as Kanji Lalji Mehta,

the main character in the movie OMG: Oh

My God points out, it’s a business that

won’t ever have a recession, because

when times are tough, people empty their

wallets before god, begging for divine

intervention.

Well, if religion is a business, it stands to

reason that it adds to the economy. In

fact, I would go so far as saying that god is

an integral part of the Indian financial

system (and not just because hope and

faith are the only things keeping it afloat).

Let me give you an example. About 230

million tourist trips are undertaken in India.

The largest proportion of this staggering

figure is religious tourism. In fact, studies

show that holy places are more popular

tourist spots than beaches or hill stations.

As fascinating as tourism is the holy

influence in retail. After incessantly

pestering the manager of a popular retail

outlet for about a quarter of an hour, this is

what I learnt: the outlet sells around six to

seven different brands of incense sticks

(agarbatti), out of which their most

expensive brand, Hem, exports their

products to 60 other countries! The

religious department here, which has

special offers during festivals, also contains

dhoop sticks (deluxe ones, no less) and

chandan tikkas, both of which are

exported too. Faith transcends borders

and our imaginations of its economic

worth.

In June 2011, an inventory of the vaults of

the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala

once again challenged our imaginations.

Gold, jewels, Napoleonic era coins, a

ruby-and-emerald studded three-and-a-

half feet tall gold idol of Mahavishnu, a

gold anki weighing almost 30 kilos, gold

coconut shells: these were just some of the

valuables found. The estimated value of all

of this wealth that makes it the richest

Hindu temple in the world is 18 billion US

dollars. That’s 18 billion US dollars lying

stagnant and adding nothing to the

economy. That kind of money would wipe

out one-fifth of the fiscal deficit, but

experts are divided as to the effects

(mostly inflation) of a sudden influx of

wealth into an economy.

But why stick to only Hinduism? TheWakf is

a religious endowment under Islamic law.

It is a permanent donation of immovable

properties for charitable or pious reasons.

In India, the Central Wakf Council

administers the country’s State Wakf

Boards. These boards are bodies that have

the power to acquire and hold property

for religious or philanthropic purposes. The

Sachar Committee headed by Justice

Rajendar Sachar, prepared a report on

the Muslims in India in 2011. This report

stated that nationwide, wakf properties

constituted of land worth Rs. 1.2 lakh crore.

Wakf properties by and large represent

lost potential: the Sachar Committee finds

that these properties could have

generated revenues worth Rs. 12,000 crore

but end up generating only Rs. 163 crore.

Encroachments and management

shortages are holding back what could be

a huge driver of welfare and education

through religious contributions.

While we’re talking about it, it’s worth

mentioning that according to a report in

Deccan Herald newspaper, the Catholic

21

Church fund equals the annual budget of

the Indian Navy. The Church holds many

properties, including a huge plantation in

Kerala worth Rs. 123 crore. Some estimates

even say that the Catholic Church is the

largest employer in India after the

Government of India. The debate on who

should manage Church properties points

to an old one in economics: whether the

economy is better managed by the state

or by communities on their own.

Proponents of the church point out the

good work done with all the money: the

setting up of countless schools and

hospitals and rescuing people from the

Uttarakhand disasters. Proponents of the

state contend that transparency and

accountability cannot be compromised –

but are countered with accusations of

governments being “too corrupt”.

Similarly, zakat, or alms-giving, is an Islamic

concept where giving charity to the poor

and needy is an obligatory thing to do for

every Muslim who is able to do so. It is

considered a personal responsibility for the

Muslims to help ease the financial burdens

of the others. (2.5% of one’s savings must

be given as zakat.) Giving zakat is a way

of purifying one’s wealth and soul.

Apart from the fact that this is a heart-

warming ideal, it’s also, economically

speaking, brilliant. In the Qur’anic view,

zakat is a way to redistribute wealth, thus

increasing the cash flow in the economy

and creating a sense of financial equality.

What is becoming clear is that people’s

hearts are big and their pockets are deep

when faith is concerned. Lalbaugcha Raja

is the most famous Ganapati idol kept at

Lalbaugh. There’s an auction that’s held

every year, called the Lalbaughcha Raja

auction. Now, just to intimidate the senses

out of you, I’m going to give you some

figures. In 2012, despite the economic

crisis, the Lalbaughcha Raja mandal

received over ₹ 8.16 crore, in just

donations. They received 13 kilos of gold,

including a golden football. Once again,

this is just donations. The actual auction

itself received over₹ 2.47 crore. People

spend in the lakhs at this auction. Where

does all that money go?

In 1999, the mandal donated one lakh to

the Army Central Welfare Fund for the

families of soldiers who lost their lives in the

Kargil war. It started a Dialysis Center

where one could get a dialysis done for

only a 100 bucks. It’s also set up a Medical

Aid Scheme and the Lokmanya Tilak

Computer Training Institute. One wonders

if such huge amounts would have been

raised for charity if God wasn’t involved.

The bottom line is that religion and

economics are invariably tied together

because both have such an enormous

impact on human lives. It is impossible to

conceive what redistribution would have

looked like without faith and what faith

would be like without selfless giving.

They’re eternally connected, because

business is unavoidable and faith is

everywhere.

22

Advertisement commercials practically dominate our television time. Nikita Sharma explains

why.

In 2003, when certain packs of the

Dairymilk Chocolate of the Cadbury Brand

were found to contain worms in them,

Cadbury resorted to quick damage

control. A public apology and a wide

spread ad campaign that had Amitabh

Bachchan advertising the safety

procedures and assurance from Cadbury.

In 2004 when Coke (the soft drink) had

allegations of using pesticides in its

chemicals, Aamir Khan did to Coke what

Amitabh did to Cadbury. But on the other

hand, when Horlicks, as part of its

advertising strategy, made promises to

help kids get taller, sharper and stronger, it

spelled doom for the company. The claims

were challenged and subsequently

falsified. Advertising can make or break a company.

Basically, what advertising does is that it

creates a desire for a product that you

may or may not need (mostly you don’t

need it), highlights the chief features of the

product in the ad and persuades you to

buy it. Thus, it majorly affects consumer

behaviour; it is largely responsible for what

consumers buy, when they buy it and how much they buy it.

For example, Cadbury India airs its

advertisements throughout the year but

they heavily advertise during festivals like

Rakshabanshan and Diwali, making it a

symbol of sharing happiness and thus the

product has witnessed substantial amount

of increase in its sales during the festive period.

'Necessity is the mother of invention' is an

often-quoted saying. But nowadays the

reverse of it is truer. In modern business,

'invention' is mother of necessity. It is

through advertisement that people begin

to feel a need for even those goods of

which they had never heard of before.

Advertisement is what makes commerce

and industry go round today, and what

gives it the huge volumes of sales they have.

Another example of heavily advertised

products resulting in increased sales is the

huge demand for fairness creams in India.

We live in a country where people have

varied skin colours with each having its

own beauty. Yet, our notion of beauty lies

in the fairness of a person’s skin colour. To

promote this kind of stereotype,

advertisements endorse all kinds of fairness

creams, fairness face washes for both men

and women since 1978 and now even

vaginal wash! In the market of fairness

creams, Unilever’s “Fair and Lovely”

outdoes every other fairness product and

rules the market undisturbed. In fact, in

India, fairness creams are the most bought product followed by soft drinks.

Advertising as an industry has seen a

steady growth in India. Consumers

encounter advertising messages as they

watch TV, read magazines, listen to the

radio, surf the internet, or simply walk

down the street. And the associated

advertising expenditures can be huge.

What, then, do economists have to say

about advertising? Up until the late 19th

century, this question had a simple answer:

nothing. This is not a trivial omission

because advertising has an enormous

effect on the market. In any textbook

example of perfect competition, all goods

are homogenous and all consumers are

informed. In this world there is no need for

advertising because consumers know

everything there is to know about the

market. Likewise rational actors would not

be swayed by marketing ploys or

information irrelevant to the product.

Advertising, then, provides a serious

counter to the notion of consumer

sovereignty, for is a consumer truly

sovereign if she is played upon by the industry through advertising?

23

But there’s a significant upside: advertising

helps stimulate economic growth. In a

country in which consumer spending

determines the future of the economy,

advertising motivates people to spend

more. By encouraging more buying,

advertising promotes both job growth and

productivity growth both to help meet

increase demand and to enable each consumer to have more to spend.

In India, companies like Hindustan Unilever

spend a great deal on advertising.

Unilever has brands like Dove, Elle18,

Brooke Bond Tea, Bru, Kissan, Knorr, Lakme,

Lux among its 37 brands. It is closely

followed by Cadbury India which has

brands like Tang, Oreo, Bournville, Eclairs, Bournvita, etc.

But throwing huge amounts of cash at

advertising agencies is not the only thing

that works. Amul is a brand whose different

approach to advertising didn’t only gather

critical appreciation but also made a

permanent place for itself in the butter

market. In the 1980s, cartoon artists Kumar

Morey and script writer Bharat Dabholkar

had been involved with sketching the

Amul ads; the latter rejected the trend of

using celebrities in advertising campaigns.

The Amul girl and Utterly Butterly Delicious

campaign proved to highly successful in the Indian market in every segment.

Companies spend money on advertising

because it increases sales of existing

products, helps grow adoption of new

products, builds brand loyalty, and takes

sales away from competitors. Although the

exact return on investment (ROI) varies

tremendously across industries,

companies, campaigns and media

channels, studies have found that

whatever money is spent on advertising

returns up to as much as three times in

additional sales. To compete and grow in

today’s diverse, ever-changing

marketplace, businesses must reach their

target customers efficiently, quickly

alerting them to new product

introductions, improved product designs

and competitive price points. Advertising is

by far the most efficient way to communicate such information.

That’s not where it stops: the economics of

advertising extend to the media channels

that depend on advertising revenues.

Many forms of advertising support the

creation of content and make that

content available at a much lower price

(or for free). For example, roughly 75% of

the cost of a newspaper is supported by

advertising. If newspapers contained no

advertising, they would cost four times as

much to buy on the newsstand. Broadcast

radio and TV rely exclusively on ads—

people get news, music, and

entertainment for free while advertisers get an audience.

Advertising on Facebook and other social

media sites that takes into account the

trends and preferences of the users has

led to this adage being true: If if you aren’t

paying for a product, you are the product being sold.

Forms of media that the public takes for

granted would be extremely expensive to

the consumer or the producer would

simply be out of business without the revenues advertising produces.

In India, even in a period of economic

downturn, a double digit growth is

expected in the advertising industry. This

trend has been present for the past 10

years. At present the growth has come

down but past figures have shown a

growth of around 13-14% which is good

enough. This means that advertising

professionals won’t be that affected by

recession as those working in financial

sectors would be and if we look at

advertising with relation to its GDP, there

has been a lot of growth; it has a huge amount of potential and a bright future.

Thus, to sum it up, we can comfortably say

that advertising increases the economic

growth of a nation. Effective advertising

leads to higher demand which in turn

leads to higher production of goods and

services and this increase in production leads to higher GDP.

24

Being physically challenged is tough. But scarce support from the government becomes even

tougher. Prahniika Borkar has traversed from a tourist to a temporary handicap in

Netherlands to discover the benefits of being a handicap there.

Terse writing? Uh,Yes.

Numerous number columns: Yeah.

The only pictures are graphs? Oh god

Yes.

Correct Answer: Economics. *Applause*

Economics is more than just graphs and

formulae and “study till you know the

market”-ness. It’s all encompassing and

pretty fantastic when you realise you can

tweak it to make it yours. This article is

doing just that. Through the studiously

sturdy glasses of economics, it compares

two diverse countries and culture by

weaving them in on one strange aspect, the condition of the handicapped.

India and Netherlands. I was lucky enough

to be in Holland last month and fortuantely

or unfortunately I fractured a leg, and

amidst a camera, sunglasses and coffee

cups, I was also thrusted with crutches. The

trip didn’t stop there and I got to live in

Holland like the disabled. Then I saw it.

Something that had slipped my eyes when

I was jumping joyfully and uninjured. This

became more evident in hindsight when I

returned to India and the glaring lack of it

showed me what an incredible country

The Netherlands was. There was a fully

equipped infrastructure created especially

for the disabled. You could be on crutches

and be as normal as the person next to

you who was walking. Lovely roads,

frequent slopes for wheel chairs, lifts at

every train stop; generally a public system

more (fully or partial) invalid friendly. On

further research, I discovered that the

benefits of being handicapped were so

humongous from the state that you were

brought on par with the normal citizen.

There is the AWBZ act(national act on

exceptional medical expenses)that covers

long term handicapped health issues and

the public insurance companies

collaborate directly with the hospital so

there are no hidden costs to be incurred;

there are designated institutions that look

into creating private accommodation and

transport (on state money) to

accommodate your handicap; domiciliary

care institutions provide disabled people

all the care they need so they can live

independently and still be completely

cared for; there is complete provision in

transport for disabled including getting till

the buses or trains with wheelchairs

available, there are also Vals that can be

booked for areas to which there is no

public transport. That is to say, positive

discrimination is so high that it achieved

what it was set out to do, bring equality like professed in utopia.

Back in India, reality hits you. Walk

gingerely on a pavement that you share

with vendors, the statistical poor and the

monsoon's spoils. Your transport option is

bus stops upto two kilometres from your

house. Of course you may take a rickshaw

to the station, but how are you going to

get into the train? There's no easy way to

cross roads without a designated crossing,

lane, or traffic rules. Sure there's reservation

in public transport for the disabled, but

how do you get till there and on it, well that's a mystery.

There are schemes whose permeability is

questionable. If it reaches the needy; the

condition on those admitted is that they

have to have lesser than a total income of

Rs. 6,500 or maximum Rs.10,000. Medical

aid in India might not be as expensive as

that of developed countries but beyond t

he doors of a municipal hospital,

consultancy is an expensive affair. The

disparity between a government run

hospital and a private hospital is vast in

both cost and treatment. If you don’t fit

into the narrow bracket of Government

aid (statistically proven to reach only

90%of the target population) and the

surplus moneyed class, your options in the

poor to middle class are few and costly.

Respite to medical costs to an average

Indian not in the cream class is insurance,

but this is again a scarily dear affair for the

handicapped, with an extra premium

25

depending on the handicap. Mostly the

insurance does not even cover the

handicap and related treatment. LIC has

two options of insurance, which don’t

have perfect reviews because of high

premiums and differing hospital charges

(doesn’t always cover the entire costs

borne) but well, something in better than nothing right?

At this point I’m going to get farfetched,

with due permission. Let’s look at the

growth rate of the Developed Netherlands

and the Developing India. 0-2% and 2-6%

respectively. Yes yes we know why, we’ve

studied it. But let’s look at it objectively

with regards to potential. India is growing

because it has so much ground to cover.

It’s also growing because its people know

they don’t have an option. The Dutch on

the other hand are comfortable with the

stability they are guaranteed.

Unemployed? Public service gets you a

stipend. Old? Government gives you

pension. Young? Schooling is taken care

of. Unfit medically and can’t afford to

pay? Yeah, don’t worry. Ask these same

questions in India and probably your

answer, with almost complete certainty, will be: Your problem.

This attitude is also what helps India survive

and recover from recession. This non-

dependence that our able government

has instilled in the average Indian works

like buoyancy helping us bounce out of

detrimental situations, even as the

bureaucrats ponder about which bond works best.

India was not severely affected by the

2008 recession that caused one A to

tearfully drop from Uncle Sam’s precious

AAA. The so-called stability of Europe’s

best countries was also reconsidered.

Netherlands on the other hand has seen

three cycles of recession post that period.

The strains of the recession are clearly

visible to the average Dutchman. It’s

easier to be a dependant here, because

the government as a whole is expansively

equalising. Indians know that they have to

get themselves out of the hole that

external factors have dug them into, and

strive to make the most out of what they

have. Strife is India’s starting point, where

comfort is Netherlands’. Historically while

Holland has splendid artist stories, India has inspiring rags-to-riches stories.

In a humble, reinstative conclusion, this

article wasn’t meant to prefer one country

over another. It wasn’t meant to change

the future of economics either. It’s just a

thought to consider. That within all the

statistics that is economics and finance to

the outside world, the heart that drives it, is

not mathematical. We can read and

include incomprehensible jargon in our

language all we want, but if all we see is

charts and policy proposals, we can’t

study economics like it should be studied.

This said, I end with a graceful keyboard

pirouette, hoping that the beauty of

economics reaches you and your next

examination paper. Good luck and happy walking.

26

EVENTS OF THE YEAR

THE ARTHANOMICS TEAM

TRIP TO GOVARDHAN VILLAGE ECONOMICS CONVENTION TEAM

LONALAVA TRIP & FAREWELL PARTY

27

The Economics Association of Jai Hind College has an official logo now! Why, you

ask? It all began with the achievement of our ultimate dream – starting an

Economics festival in this college. Arthanomics is the beginning of a really bright

future for this association, and it’s only fitting to have a logo to show how we

students are and what we’re are capable of. Therefore, the logo is a combination of

two very simple concepts – idea and implementation. First, the light bulb symbolises

what one may call an “idea bank”. We’re always thinking of new ways to ensure

that various activities are held which will help the Association and its members excel

in one way or another. But what makes this ‘light bulb’ work? The students, of course!

The brightness of the light is depicted by adjectives that describe the members of

this wonderful association – Enterprising, Curious, Optimistic, Numerous,

Opportunities, Meticulous, Innovative, Coordinated Students! Perfect recipe for

success, yes? Subtle but obvious message – these adjectives start with the alphabets

of the word “Economics”.

So that’s everything about the emblem of the Economics Association. Here’s hoping

that every future member is the embodiment of the above description for years and

years to come!

- Nihaarika Ravi

28

Dreams come true. The Economics Department at Jai Hind College truly lives by this

adage. Having always envisaged harbouring and nurturing the acumen of and love

for Economics among the students, the Department assisted by the Economics

Association organized Arthanomics – An Intra College Economics Fest. Spanning

over two days with a variety of events ranging from fine arts to literary arts, all with

an economic base, Arthanomics saw 150 economic enthusiasts participate wholly and eagerly.

Economics Seminar: The fest started with an Economics Seminar which was based

on the Theme – Social Entrepreneurship. Based on extensive research, 4 groups presented papers on the following topics:

Social Entrepreneurship in Finance

Social Entrepreneurship in Healthcare

Social Entrepreneurship in Social and Human Capital Social Entrepreneurship in Environment

Each group was required to prepare a research paper on their respective topic and

then make a presentation of the same to the judges. Post the presentation;

questions were entertained from the audience and judges. The seminar saw

students taking part enthusiastically in a topic that is more relevant today than ever

before- Social Entrepreneurship. Some students expressed their desires to start their

own social venture and some to start a venture to support social ventures. Issues in

this area of business were raised but constructive solutions were deliberated upon too.

Taking a leap from the previous years, the seminar incorporated a competitive

aspect. In order to motivate and stimulate the students’ enthusiasm and enable

them to operate in an environment infused with healthy competition, several awards

were announced prior to the event. The Best Paper (Written) and Best Paper

(Presentation) was won by Social Entrepreneurship in Social and Human Capital. Aanchal Jain (TYBA) won Best Speaker.

The event was judged by the Ex-HoD of the Economics Department Mrs. Suri and past secretary of the Economics Association Karanjit Narang.

Book Review: Someone rightly said, If there ever is a book that hasn’t been written

then maybe you should write it. But whether a book has been written or not can be

known only once you read it. All the book lovers got a chance to critique, discuss

and objectively analyse their favourite book. This year, the horizon of topics was

expanded to include an array of topics right from feminism to psychology to environment.

The students participated enthusiastically in the event. As instructed, none gave

away the important details of the book but gave away reason why one should read the book. The Books reviewed were an eclectic mix comprising of:

Lean In – Vishaka Wadhwani, Shreya Samant and Minakshi Singh

But Will The Planet Notice – Siddhant Sharma, Dhara Shah And Nikita Sharma

May You Be The Mother Of A Hundred Sons - Bineet Hora And Aishwarya

Sawarna Thinking Fast And Slow - Vishnu Kumar, Hamza Mir And Anay Kaundinya

29

Vishnu Kumar (TYBA) was adjudged the Best Speaker while Bineet and Aishwarya

(TYBA) bagged the Best Book Review prize. This event was judged by some of our proficient and brilliant ex-students: Kinjal Shah, Achla and Karanjit Narang.

Quiz: The economic acumen of the students was further tested via a quiz round. The

participants were put through 5 rigorous rounds to find the brightest economic

brains. On popular demand, the ex-students were allowed to participate too. Using

their natural advantage of age and thereby a relatively higher practical exposure, ex-students Gaurav Dutta and Sharang Shah emerged as clear winners.

Essay Writing Competition: Words are a lens to focus on one’s mind. It gives great

insight into the mental construct of an individual. And what better way to gain this

insight than an essay composition! Seeking solutions to one of India’s most inherent

and critical problems: The Rural - Urban Divide, students were asked to pen down

their views on Where does India’s future lie? Rural or Urban. Kartik Jaishankar (FYBA)

bagged Best Essay prize.

Poster Making: To give recognition to the creative aspect of students, a poster

making competition was organized wherein students were asked to submit posters

on the topic: Scams around the world. The posters were given in before the fest

began and were judged by Karanjit Narang. Recognizing the onslaught technology

and the imperial role it plays in our lives, digitally designed posters were accepted

too, apart from handmade ones. Sakshi from FYBA was judged to be the best from

amongst 13 others.

JAM: Just a Minute also called as JAM was the concluding event at Arthanomics,

2013. ‘Dismiss the stage fright in you’ was the sole aim of this event. Given a few

words and 1 minute of prep time, participants had to build a connection between

the words given to them and speak about it for a minute. Utsav Babel from TYBA was

adjudged to be the winner for spontaneity and wit.

The fest concluded with the valedictory ceremony wherein certificates were given

to all the winners and participants. All organizing members were acknowledged for their indispensable contribution in organizing Arthanomics.

All in all, Arthanomics was a milestone for the Department and the Association which

had long envisioned of having an Economics Fest in Jai Hind College. The Fest

ended with an address from the Secretary of the Economics Association, Kruttika

Raman, calling on the juniors to maintain the spirit of Arthanomics and take it to newer heights.

- Aanchal Jain

30

- Sumati Sapru’s Team

The sheer quantity of capital moving to

help solve social problems is staggering. In

2009, the worldwide capital flowing from

wealthy countries to developing countries

topped $476 billion. Of these funds

approximately 75% came from

philanthropy, remittances, and private

capital investment, while governments

contributed the rest. A much broader

opportunity exists if one also considers the

market for “socially responsible” products,

social change work, and socially

responsible investing. The relatively new

term social capital has emerged to

describe this market. Even with increased

attention focused on this sector,

determining the actual size of the social capital market is challenging.

Renowned former Goldman Sachs

executive, David Blood, notes that asset

owners and managers representing over

$8 trillion are recognizing that

environmental, social, and governance

factors drive value creation. Hope

Consulting estimated the opportunity at a

more modest $120 billion. Regardless of the exact size, we know it is massive.

Historically, funds from individual donors,

personal relationships, and large

foundations provided the means to fund

social ventures. Now, a much more nimble

system is evolving—a system based on

impact, technology and transparency.

Microfinance models, Internet-based

funding, and innovative partnership

approaches are providing new solutions to

limitations posed by traditional capital

flows. While these are not a panacea for

solving the challenges of funding, they are

giving a tremendous boost to the capital

available to this market and, more

importantly, providing much-needed

innovation in the field. When taken in their

entirety, the funding and financing

opportunities are larger than ever before.

Capital is moving in new ways and

organizations are responding with

remarkable innovation. The purpose of this

paper is to highlight some of the

innovations and trends in the field of social entrepreneurship.

Within the Indian context, the main

sources available to social entrepreneurs

for their finance needs are microfinance

institutions and the unorganised money

market. This is due to the fact that their

history has shown a lack of credit

worthiness and other sources of finance

are hostile to their needs. These sources

are plagued with problems like high

interest rates, low repayment

percentages, and especially in the case of

the unorganized money market,

exploitation of the borrowers. There is also

no end to the scams associated with these sources.

In the international context however,

social entrepreneurs have faced a much

friendlier environment with new

innovations catering to their financial

needs, such as impact investing and social

enterprise lending. Impact investing is a

term that refers to a broad array of profit-

seeking investment strategies that

generate social and environmental good

as well as a strong financial return (it is also

known as social capitalism and

philanthrocapitalism). Social enterprise

lending on the other hand is a form of

social finance that refers to the practice of

offering loans and other financing vehicles

below current market rates to social

enterprises and other organizations

pursuing social goals. Given the sheer size

of the opportunity, much attention is being

paid to these approaches. Many large

banks, financial institutions, and

foundations are interested in the success

of this emerging approach. Massive

amounts of previously unavailable capital

are accessible to entrepreneurs who are

blending for-profit financial models with positive social impact goals.

Some progressions in the fields of social

media, transparency and cross-sector

partnerships have given a boost to the

social entrepreneur’s funding solutions. The

rise of connectivity across the globe is

31

fuelling unparalleled access to

entrepreneurial capital. With nearly one

billion users across the globe, Facebook

has been credited with helping activists

topple oppressive governments, catalysing

donors, and building social connectivity

among those never previously connected.

As a result of advances in technology, a

wave of new giving opportunities has

emerged, thus changing and

decentralizing the capital market for social

ventures. With these changes in

technology, organizations now face new

requirements for transparency in the work

they do. Also, while not necessarily new,

cross-sector partnerships are blossoming.

Corporations, non-profits, and

governmental entities are collaborating to

a degree never seen before. This

blossoming of partnership presents some

incredible opportunities for social sector

entrepreneurs and for the funding of social

ventures. Corporations have resources

beyond the imagination of many non-

profits. Non-profits have brand credibility

and flexibility that are the envy of many

corporations. Governments typically have

neither vast financial resources nor

flexibility, but they do have immense

regulatory power that can be harnessed

by non-profits and corporations to contribute to society’s betterment.

The field has also witnessed the

resurgence of the mega-foundation.

Much of the history of philanthropy is

dominated by mega-foundations such as

the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

and Rockefeller. Over the past 200 years,

these foundations have poured billions into

improving society, building libraries,

enhancing universities, forging advances

in health care, and many other worthwhile

causes. Today, the combined assets of the

world’s 25 largest foundations total about

$220 billion. It is worth noting that large

foundations will continue to be a critical

and enduring source of financing for social

sector entrepreneurs. In fact, 40% of the

larger foundations were formed in the last

10 years. With the recent commitment of

some of the world’s wealthiest people to

give half of their fortunes to charity, the

amount of money pouring into foundations will likely accelerate.

It is an exciting time to be in the field of

social entrepreneurship. Never before

have we had such a powerful

coalescence of forces where impact,

profitability, funding sources, and public

interest align so seamlessly. The field has

billions of dollars flowing into it—clearly

investors have a growing need for impact

and are impatient with rigid institutional

giving structures. For today’s entrepreneur,

it may be the case that leadership and

strategy are the primary limitations rather

than funding sources. Funding appears to

be becoming infinitely more flexible and

responsive to the needs of the entrepreneur.

The common opinion about any enterprise

in the social sector was that it was

unprofitable, and as long as it survived

and fulfilled its social function, the job was

done. However, after the reading and

research we conducted, we have had a

vast change in our outlook. Innovations

such as impact investing and social

enterprise lending have proven that social

enterprises are now becoming more and

more self-reliant. This has opened a huge

scope for expansion and betterment for

the sector. For the social entrepreneur, this

presents a remarkable opportunity to

change the world in ways never before possible.

32

- Vasudhaa Ahuja’s Team

‘Environmental Entrepreneurship’ refers to

the process of creating, discovering, and

executing innovative solutions to

environmental challenges, often through

the means of ‘for-profit’ ventures.’ Social

Entrepreneurship can be studied in

relation to various global environmental

challenges, namely – global warming and

loss of biodiversity, the energy crisis and,

the food shortage and water crisis. These

are the direct results of human

exploitation of the Earth’s natural

resources, and in turn serve as the major

causes of ecological imbalance and

global warming. With increasing

environmental concern among nations

and its citizens, it is upon businessmen to

develop products and services that can

reduce the impacts of these pressing

environmental issues.

Describing itself as a global science

company, DuPont, the 3rd largest

chemical company in the world, along

with General Motors is essentially the entity

that invented the dangerous ozone-

depleting substances primarily used in

aerosol sprays and refrigerants that we all

know today as Chlorofluorocarbons

(CFCs). Once it was proven that CFCs

were harmful to the Earth’s atmosphere,

DuPont pledged to stop producing them

entirely, and direct its efforts at countering

their adverse effects. It subsequently

moved focus to developing technologies

with respect to sustainable development.

DuPont even won an award for being the leader in developing CFC replacements.

The two defining inventions of the 20th

century are without a doubt the internal

combustion engine and electricity.

Without either of them we would not live

the lives we do today. Unfortunately, the

world is fast running out of conventional

ways to power our engines and light our

bulbs. The end of “easy oil” combined

with the volatile state of the oil rich Middle

East has pushed oil prices to dizzying

heights off late. Fortunately, the world is

blessed with a host of companies that

understand how crucial it is to address

these issues and are striving to find

renewable, non-conventional and

innovative alternatives to our rapidly depleting conventional energy resources.

Solar energy is one of the most important

forms of energy due to the vast amounts

of it the earth receives. Our research

showed that companies in this field,

despite using similar methods of

harnessing solar energy, have had varying

levels of commercial success. Solyndra, a

social enterprise found success after

keeping up with the market and keep costs low just like a traditional business.

Biofuels can be used to power existing

engines with almost no modification, and

can be manufactured cheaply and easily

from existing feedstock. While Hybrids

vehicles are by no means a permanent

solution to energy crisis, they offer us a

chance to buy time and better use what

precious few resources we have while we

still can. Hybrids are often criticized for

their poor on road performance but the

latest breed of them is anything but slow

and boring. Porsche, Ferrari and McLaren

all have announced their hybrid hyper

cars.

The need at present is to make energy

alternatives like these commercially

successful. In terms of entrepreneurship,

the market for sustainable energy

alternatives is extremely attractive since

there is enough room for creativity

accompanied by adequate demand for

economical and environment friendly products.

Food shortage: Food security is one of the

major global issues due to confluence of

various factors. Increasing population has

led to high pressure on land with other set

of problems like limited access to water,

increased cost of fertilizer, fuel for storage

and transport. The major reason for this

problem can be traced back to the post

war ‘second –agricultural revolution’ in

developed countries and the ‘green

revolution’ in developing nations has

33

raised crop yields dramatically but does

not meet the projected demand. Change

in consumption patterns and increased

appetite of meat of countries like India

and China as well as erratic climate change has added further to this crisis.

An innovative solution to this problem is

Aquaponics. Essentially a sustainable food

production system, Aquaponics is a

combination of aquaculture and

hydroponics. Aquaculture refers to raising

aquatic animals, while Hydroponics is an

environmental alternative of cultivating

plants in nutrient-rich water, without any

soil. In this integrated system, fish and

plants are cultivated together in a

sustainable, soilless and symbiotic environment.

We see that developing food substitutes

that are cheaper and rich in micro as well

as macronutrients can decrease

malnutrition. An example of this is “Solae”

– a sustainable soy protein produced by

DuPont, along with an NGO (Gift of the

Givers Foundation), and local growers,

producers and distributers turned Africa’s

local groundnut crops into a ‘high-energy,

nutrient-dense’ protein supplement.

Named Subusiso (meaning blessing), not

only does this product feed the people of

Malawi, but also stimulates the country’s

economy by its production and distribution. Moreover,

The Severity of the World Food Crisis has

compelled Governments, international

organisations and Companies to work out

its solutions as soon as possible. If not dealt

with quickly and effectively, food crisis will become the next big disaster.

Water Crisis: "Water is everybody's

business" was one the key messages of the

2nd World Water Forum. With only 0.007%

of the Earth’s water available to fuel and

feed almost 7 billion people, water

shortage and therefore it’s serious after-

effects are inevitable. We are fortunate

that several global entities realize the

severity of the problem and have started

taking steps in the right direction. A few of

these entities namely AquaPro and Village

Forward Inc. have worked towards

innovation in water management and

conservation. AquaPro introduced a

planting technology called Groasis

Waterboxx, which is a league ahead of

other plantation technologies. It works

towards not only water management but

also reforestation and increased revenues

with cost effectiveness. On the other hand

The Village Inc. has got something solely

working towards water conservation with

locally produced water ceramic filters

called Aquasifs. This is advantageous for

the local communities producing it as well the major aspect of water management.

With this we see that Environmental

Entrepreneurship is an extremely diverse

and widespread concept. So what is it

that drives environmental

entrepreneurship? Given that there is an

inherent difficulty in starting one’s own

company accompanied by the low

success rate of new ventures, why would

an individual choose the path of environmental entrepreneurship?

On a personal level, an individual will

engage in such an activity, if he has a

passion for a specific aspect of the

environment, and he sees an opportunity

in the economy with which he may

harness the potential of that aspect. There

are also a number of economic incentives

to environmental entrepreneurship.

With Environmental Entrepreneurship we

understand that sustainability is 2 fold.

Engaging in sustainable development

does not simply refer to the maintenance

of a healthy environment now and in the

future - but it also means ensuring

economic stability and maintenance of

finances for conservationist activities, else

we will not be able to reap the benefits of

our efforts. After all - what is the point of

taking eco-friendly measures, when one

doesn't have the finances to sustain them?

It is becoming more and more evident

lately that environmentally efficient

business models are the new trend

because with the rapid advancement of

technology and infrastructure,

accompanied by constantly evolving

lifestyles, it is crucial to embrace the

fundamental truth that economic

progress and conservation of the

environment go hand in hand.

34

- Aanchal Jain’s Team

Schooling, a computer training course,

expenditures on medical care, and

lectures on the virtues of punctuality and

honesty raise earnings, improve health, or

add to a person’s good habits over much

of his lifetime. Hence, they too are

considered as Capital. These intangible

aspects are broadly divided into Social and Human Capital.

Human capital cannot omit the influence

of families on the knowledge, skills, health,

values, and habits of their children. Also,

social organizations, interaction of

individuals with other factors in their

surrounding environment is intrinsic to

development of Human Capital. This

constitutes Social Capital. Thus, social

capital can help in explaining the

differential success of individuals and firms in their competitive rivalry.

Realizing the promise that Human and

Social Capital hold for a country’s growth

and its intrinsic development potential,

several enterprises have spruced up which

work in these areas. Key insights from our

paper follow from the profiling of 14 Indian

SEs. The needs of the sectors and

organizations working towards them are divided into:

A) RISE OF THE RURAL

1. Barefoot College: It aims at village

advancement which facilitated by the

guidance and supervision of the

villagers themselves as Barefoot

believes that villagers from the village

know best what they need. The idea is

to empower the rural population with

basic skills needed to work and make

a living.

2. Craftsvilla.com: It is an online

marketplace to purchase unique

Indian products including handmade,

ethnic, natural products. It connects

local artisans and designers directly to

global customers, thereby increasing

their livelihood, removing middlemen

and creating/promoting local brands.

B) THE WORKING WOMAN

1. Rangsutra: It gives the unusual taste of

entrepreneurship to some of the most

disadvantaged artisans in Rajasthan,

Assam and Uttarakhand by making

them co-owners of a 7crore company.

Rangsutra aims to generate

sustainable livelihood for crafts people.

2. S.E.W.A.: It provides comprehensive

support to poor, self-employed

women. It works towards increasing

their bargaining power, economic

opportunities, health security, legal

representation and organizational

abilities.

C) HUMAN CAPITAL AMELIORATION

1. Kautilya Phytoextract Pvt. Ltd: It seeks

to alleviate tribal marginal farmers of

Bihar and West Bengal by generating

alternative means of livelihood and

strengthening the rural economy,

thereby working towards curbing rural

migration. Leveraging ample land and

human resources combined with

modern farming techniques, the

company primarily operates in Bihar

and West Bengal.

2. Babajob.Com: It is a Bangalore-based

startup using the web and mobile

technology to connect employers and

bottom-of-the-pyramid (BOP) informal

sector workers (maids, cooks, etc.) with

the goal of creating a scalable and

profitable solution to combat poverty.

Babajob aims to do this by creating

greater market efficiency in the

informal sector through voice and web

features such as SMS, UssD and

operator manned call centres,

enabling employers and job seekers to

find each other.

D) ENABLING THE DISABLED

1. Snehadeep Trust For The Disabled: It is

a non-profit and charitable

organization working towards the

advancement and betterment of the

differently abled in the areas of

education, computer training and soft

35

skills. Snehadeep supports hundreds of

disabled high school children who are

all mentally, hearing, visually and

orthopaedic challenged. Presently, it

even supports children from

economically disadvantaged

backgrounds focusing on girl child

development and empowerment and

education of destitute women.

2. Mirakle Couriers: Aiming to provide

employment to the hearing impaired,

Mirakle Couriers was founded in

January 2009. Mirakle employs only

deaf adults. All the staff members

including delivery personnel and back

end staff are hearing impaired.

Conclusion: At the end of our research, we

found that all available evidence suggests that there is a lot that remains to be done.

Social enterprises create and fill jobs, but

there is paucity in creation of “promotional

jobs”. For example, if a migrant is taught to

drive, he can become a chauffeur in the

city. It is a job where pay increments come

with increases in the wage rate, since

experience is not an asset here. Thus there

is insufficient effort to train people for jobs

which offer greater growth and multiplier benefits.

We also found it difficult to find material

information about many enterprises that

merited mention. This speaks of a multi-

faceted information problem, for three distinct categories of people.

1. People like venture capitalists that can

help these enterprises in their

nascence, do not learn about them

until they are big enough to get

newsbytes. Aavishkar funded

Rangasutra only after it had clocked a

turnover of Rs.30 lakhs in its first year.

2. The people whom these organisations

seek to help are also unaware of them.

The reach of most social enterprises is

usually a number like 1000-2000 which

is not sufficient to sustain them. This is a

good place for the government to

step in since it could do a lot to help

social enterprises promote themselves.

3. Finally, as we mentioned, people like

us, who would like to find out more

about these organisations are unable

to do so. This will keep many

enterprises from reaching the academic world.

Also if there was a portal or directory for

social enterprises, we could have found

more of the information that we needed.

We were unable to find material

information about enterprise such as Open

Your Arms, which would have made

worthy additions to this report. Besides,

such a portal is squarely in the realm of the

doable as the MSME ministry’s stellar directory has shown.

Another fairly salient limit in outreach is

spelt out in the obvious rural bias of social

enterprises in general, and in particular

those that were within the scope of our

topic for research. There simply don’t

seem to be enough social enterprises

working in urban centres, which offer a completely distinct range of problems.

The sector as a whole seems to be pulled

in several different directions, with many

enterprises working in apparently opposite

directions. For instance, websites such as

babjob, bodhijob and justrojgar help in

deploying rural labour primarily to

openings in urban areas, in an attempt to

make migration less of a walk in a dark

tunnel than it is for a lot of people. At the

same time, an organisation like Kautilya

Phytoextracts is trying to generate

incomes in rural areas for the express

purpose of stemming the pace of

migration from states like Bihar and West Bengal.

Therefore, social enterprises would

probably create public good with or

without any major changes in the way

they function or in the way they are

perceived. However, since the

maximisation of public good is what

everyone seems to be interested in, the

sector would progress much faster if it

were extended a helping hand by higher

powers. At the same time, many of them

would do well to promote themselves

better, since publicity is worth its weight in gold with this kind of a business model.

36

- Vidhya Jain’s Team

“What exactly were Social

Entrepreneurs? And why should

anyone care about us? Well, in our

minds, we were clearly differentiated

from traditional NGOs and non-profits.

Social Entrepreneurs are problem-

solvers, not idealists. We’re driven by

innovation not by charity. And we

don’t believe in hand-outs, we use

entrepreneurial strategies to achieve

social change.”

– Linda Rottenberg, Co-founder & CEO

of Endeavor

The first thing that comes to our mind

when one says ‘social

entrepreneurship’ is entrepreneurship

to help the society much like an NGO,

where profits are not given any

attention but at the very first instance

one would not realize the ample

potential social entrepreneurship has

and how social entrepreneurs us

innovativeness and creativity to use

their profits to achieve their larger

goal, thus treating profit as an

indispensable tool for the fulfillment of

their goal. This is what we took back

after making this paper.

As Linda Rottenberg rightly quoted,

social entrepreneurs are different from

NGO’s and non- profits organization.

Social entrepreneurs do focus on their

profit motive and give it a lot of

attention but it doesn’t end there, they

use their profits as a means to achieve

their larger social and environmental

goals. This is what makes a social

entrepreneurship truly unique. Social

entrepreneurship has evolved over the

times and has moved from corporate

philanthropy to innovative, financially

viable self-sustainable ventures.

Through this paper we understood the

potential possessed by social

entrepreneurship in healthcare not

only in India but across the globe as

well. In India the scope for

entrepreneurship in healthcare is

immense, as Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty,

founder of Narayana Hrudayalaya,

rightly said India has a fertile ground

for domestic indigenous entrepreneurs.

In this paper we saw in the Indian

Context, what hurdles India currently is

facing, the environment for

entrepreneurship, government’s

perspective and how it is doing its bit

towards the promotion of social

Entrepreneurship in healthcare.

Social Entrepreneurship in Healthcare

can been seen in almost all fields

today from malnutrition, to female

infanticide, it is can even be

undertaken on a large scale as few of

our case studies are based on or even

on a much smaller scale, however we

have focused on a few cases studies

like BBB an enterprise which employs

the deaf in a highly competitive

professionally demanding courier

business, thus giving them the push to

help them to rise up to the occasion,

Swami Vivekanand Youth Movement

an innovative venture which integrates

of Ayurveda and Allopathy, to help

solve the issues that many health

development organizations run into

like sustainability and cost

37

management, Aravind Eye Hospitals,

the largest provider of eye care

services and trainer of eye care

personnel in the world, it operating on

a unity which can be found among

the doctors the staff and other

employees, working towards a single,

unified and impactful goal. Narayana

Hrudayalaya the fastest-growing

healthcare businesses in the world

which uses a combination of business

models and innovation to lower the

cost of cardiac surgery and in doing so

has revolutionized the access, volume,

and reach of its facilities.

We have even studied the workings of

an International organization called

‘Riders for Health’ a successful

entrepreneurial venture which focuses

on the transportation of healthcare to

the doorstep of the rural people in

Africa, mainly specializing in

maintaining and running vehicles to

enable healthcare to be delivered all

over Africa.

After studying the various case studies

we could conclude that the

entrepreneurs in this area also need to

keep their model as simple as possible.

They need to understand target

market particularly if they are looking

at the lower income segment.

More involvement of Social

entrepreneurship in the health care is

the only way we can help lower the

spiraling healthcare costs and ensure

that the poor and those in rural areas

access quality medical care.

‘World can only be a better place

when philanthropy meets

entrepreneurship halfway.’

- Michael Porter

38

- Siddhant Sharma, Dhara Shah and Nikita Sharma

Background:

You probably already know that the

planet has had a pretty rough

relationship with us human beings.

And I guess you probably also know

that we are not going to change our

attitude towards the environment till it

stands in front of us and tells us that

we are doomed. So if it comes down

to solving the problem at hand before

it gets too late then we have to come

up with solutions that are beneficial to

everyone. By everyone I mean the

environment firstly, and then the

businessman who could care less

about it (ofcourse I am generalising).

The book, “But Will The Planet Notice”

talks about just that. The author states

that anti-herd actions and

mechanisms are not powerful enough

to change the environment situation,

even if they really connect with our

idealistic self. So for example, if a small

group decides to only drive hybrid

cars, it’s really not going to make a

difference to our planet. The key is to

get the majority on board and to get

them to make “environment friendly”

choices.

Making a case:

Gernot Wagner, the author, states

that there is no point in fighting

market attitudes. He points out to the

Lobster Gangs of Maine and talks

about how one can beat the

paradox between profit and

environmental gain. Maine was one

of the most fertile lobster grounds

around the 1850’s. But by the 1870’s it

started to run out of lobsters and the

local government had to place strict

regulations to control its loss of

lobsters. They tried everything and by

1895, the last lobster canning factory

closed down. But lobsters were still

being caught. Then they tried

something different. They put in place

Lobster Gangs. So if you wanted to

catch lobsters in Maine, you had to be

part of a lobster gang. For that you

had to be a local and obtain a

license, which had other obstacles

that checked to see if you actually

cared about the community. This led

to an obvious decrease in the people

who caught lobsters and eventually it

led to the community protecting its

own resource and working towards

creating a balanced amount of

catching. Of course you might not

care about Maine or their lobsters for

that matter. But it’s really about the

attitude here. A business approach

that is also centric to conserving

resources and increasing their

sustainability is one that will always

make you win.

The book talks about many other such

tools and methods to incentivise,

demotivate and regulate (both literally

and metaphorically) actions that

affect the environment. Gone are the

days where people think that for

businesses to grow, there has to be

collateral damage. Gernot Wagner

shows an alternate path in his book,

and it’s time that we get on its

bandwagon.

Who should read?

Anyone who cares about the world

we live in should give this book a

chance. It’s not some page turner and

if that’s what you are looking for, then

you’re better off reading Harry Potter.

However, on a more serious note, I’d

say give it a shot, it will show you a

new way of how the Gordon Gecko’s

of the world can meet environmental

activists halfway and come up with a

mutually benefitting solution. And at

the end of the day, we should give

more than just a damn about the

environment we live in. Do you?

39

- Bineet Hora and Aishwarya Swarna

The title of the book is a Sanskrit

saying, given to the woman at the

time of her marriage. It has its origin

in Mahabharat. Bheeshma blesses

Gandhari with these words when

she decides to permanently keep

her eyes blind folded as a mark of respect for her blind husband.

I have lived in India all my life and I

always thought there is nothing

much a foreigner could tell me

about this country. Brought up by

educated parents and from a

business class family, I assumed

women in India were by and large

free from all the inequities of the

past. This book was an eye opener.

I realized that freedom was in fact

a luxury and my life in India was a

privilege which is not available to

the vast majority of the women in

this country.

May you be the mother of a

thousand sons is a narrative written

as an American female journalist’s

insight into the lives of the

contemporary Indian women.

What’s very interesting about this

book is the way it looks at any

given situation not from a single

perspective but many. The very

title of the book is a sarcastic

remark on the way women in our

subcontinent are chiefly

stereotypically looked as "child making machines".

However, the book digs deeper

into the lives of these very

machines and identifies the

reasons that makes them more

human. All in all you won't regret

devoting your time and attention to this book.

Perspective: According to me, at

least till now, the relevance of post-

modern feminism hasn’t been

much, but after reading this book

that not just contemplates the

various problems women today are

faced with, but also propounds the

various branches and ways in

which disguised patriarchy has

begun to take strong roots in our

society, is quite interesting. In one

of the chapters, she actually

quotes implying that even though

she began her journey by trying to

find the ways women are being

empowered in our nation, she had

a disillusioned return on learning

the sad reality that many powerful

Indian female public figures are, in

fact, the creation powerful Indian

men. Every woman holding a

powerful position has a powerful surname attached to hers.

The book is an enlightening read

but its audience can only be

someone who's also equally curious

on the relevance of post-modern

feminism or the insight into the lives

of Indian women from an

American woman's perspective

rate. It is meant for the middle class

people of India, who can see their

life unfolding in front of them as

they flip the pages of the book, it’s

also meant for the upper middle

class, who consider themselves a

part of the Indian society but are

blissfully unaware of what is going on in their own nation.

40

- Vishnu Kumar, Hamza Mir and Anay Kaundinya

The Author’s Central Argument

Daniel Kahneman breaks down thinking into

two nodes – System 1 and System 2.

Thinking Slow is referred to as System 2. It is

conscious thinking, where we spend a great

deal of time reasoning and analyzing and

naturally feel as if we are in control of the

situation. System 1 is automatic and

unconscious. Like a receptor, it constantly

surveys the environment and processes the

incoming information. However, this system is prone to making mistakes.

Whenever system 1 senses that something is

not right, system 2 is triggered automatically

to help system 1 with the situation. The

impressions of system 1 are not effective in

long-term planning; system 2 is often

completely unaware that it is being

influenced (and misled) by system 1; and

therefore, is not always able to spot the

former’s errors. The book by and large tries

to make us aware about how System 1

works and how it influences System 2, sometimes even misleading the latter.

Interesting Evidences Used

The book provides a plethora of evidences

which support the central argument and

the point of view of the author.

1. Kahneman asserts that people who go

by System 1 make judgments from

environmental cues. Suppose a

politician looks “presidential”. When a

voter watches him making a speech on

T.V, System 1 might tell him that the

politician would make a good president.

Sometimes, we unconsciously assume

that the speed at which people make

decisions determines the quality of

decision making. According to

Kahneman, George Bush is a System 1

person because he (Bush) operated by

intuition and prided himself on his gut.

Barack Obama, conversely, is a System

2 person. The public has a stereotype of

what makes a strong leader. They like

leaders who are decisive, act quickly

and who seem to know exactly what to

do. Daniel Kahneman therefore feels

that the public like the decision-making

style of President Bush more than the

decision-making style of Barack Obama.

2. Kahneman discusses an interesting

fallacy which he has named “WYSIATI:

What You See Is All There Is.” Sometime,

we are faced with complicated

problems about which very limited

information is available to us. Even when

we do have information regarding the

problem, it may be of poor quality.

Regardless, we generate the best story

possible to reach a solution and

convince ourselves that this solution is

the only possible one. WYSIATI means

that we don’t allow for what we don’t know.

Which type of reader is the book intended for?

1. People of an inquisitive nature who like

to introspect in order to understand

events and circumstances which led

them to become the way they are

would benefit from a reading of this

book.

2. Students of Psychology, Statistics and

even Economics may observe that the

book largely dwells in the realms of their

respective disciplines and may therefore

appreciate the ideas of the author and

the remarkable coherence in the evidences presented.

41

- Vishakha Wadhwani, Shreya Samant and Minakshi Singh

Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” is the

mouthpiece of the subjugated

women in the workforce. The fact

that gender is a predominant factor

of employers, Sandberg intelligently

brings legitimate questions on it.

Being immune to the inequalities

and the suppression women has

accepted the mediocre over

experimental. Several instances in

the book highlight the issue of

opportunities which were not taken

in the best stride because of the

discomfort and fear. The root cause

of women losing their vocational

success is because of lowering the

standards they have achieved. Even

after the statistics of women

excelling in the educational front,

the ratio of women leading the

world has not increased and remains

stagnant. The economical aspect of

it could have surpassed

expectations if there were equal

employment to both men and

women. By no means does the book

try to show the displeasure of men

ruling the business kingdom.

Sandberg puts the perfect amount

of realistic element for the

awareness of bringing a gradual

change in the work atmosphere

where women will conquer.

Sheryl Sandberg wrote this book

after giving many speeches and TED

Talks on how women should be

treated equally in workplace. With

every speech, she found that more

and more women could agree to

what she was saying and that more

and more women needed to hear

that they can excel in any field if

they have the right backing from

colleagues, boss and family and with

hard work and ability.

The grassroots of all problems for

women is deep-rooted belief that

women are incapable of having

aspirations as great as men, both in

women themselves as well as the

society. The biological difference is

anyway a common concern but

beyond the lines of it there is a man-

made concept of differentiating

genders. This is the crux of the matter

which Sandberg acknowledges. The

belief of Leaning in is definitely a

solution for encouraging the women

who are on their career front. It is not

a feministic drive but a reasonable

explanation of the biased views from

a business perspective. Her

observant and clear cut references

are a success of this book. She busts

the myths such has a woman cannot

balance her work and personal life

exceptionally well and botches up

at least one of them or that every

individual does not have to ‘do it all’,

we just have to do what is important

and what is necessary. Having said

that, it won’t be a surprise to hear

that Sheryl Sandberg is ranked as the

5th most powerful woman in the

world in the Forbes magazine.

42

Disclaimer: The following section is a funny take on the world of economics from the eyes of the

funny people. All works below are reproductions of existing works. We do not intend to hurt anyone’s feeling or sentiments through these works. If at all it does, it was purely incidental.

Top 5 Reasons To Study Economics 1) Economists are armed and dangerous:

"Watch out for our invisible hands."

2) You can talk about money without ever

having to make any.

3) You get to say "trickle down" with a

straight face.

4) Mick Jagger and Arnold

Schwarzenegger both studied

economics and look how they turned

out.

5) When you are in the unemployment line,

at least you will know why you are there.

The following joke is a joint invention of

Preston McAfee, Phil Reny and several so far anonymous writers.

The Weirdest Economic Indicators 1) Unclaimed corpse indicator: People do

not claim the bodies of their family

members because the costs of a funeral

are deathly high during a downturn.

2) Marine advertisement intensity index:

Because too many people apply, the US

Marines toughen up their videos during

a recession to scare off applicants.

3) Baby diaper rash indicator: When

growth is sluggish, parents cut costs by

changing their babies’ diapers fewer

times – reflected in higher sales for rash

cream and lower sales for disposable

diapers.

4) The high heels index: When the

economy is down, heel heights go up.

This is because consumers treat fashion

as an escape and wear more

flamboyant things during a downturn.

This has been proven time and again

since the Great Depression.

5) Divorce rate indicator: Divorce rates fall

during a recession – if Hollywood has

taught us anything, it is that divorces are

expensive. Better to stay together and fake romance, no?

Why God Never Received Tenure at an

Ivy League University 1) Because he had only one major

publication and it was in Hebrew.

2) It had no cited references and some

even doubt he wrote it himself.

3) The scientific community has had a very

rough time trying to replicate his results.

4) He never applied to the Ethics Board for

permission to use human subjects.

5) He rarely came to class, just told students to read the book.

5 Economists Every INDIAN Economics

Graduate Knows: 1) Alfred Marshall

2) John Maynard Keynes

3) Adam Smith

4) Amartya Sen

5) Manmohan Singh

6) Mascarenhas and Johnson (They deserve a special mention.)

Movies Every Economics Student Must

Watch Before They Die: 1) Supersize Me: It projects the subtle

difference between doing something

that’s good for profit and doing

something that’s good for human

beings.

2) A Christmas Carol: The movie exposes

the gruesome background of Capitalism

and is a classic portrayal of the

greediest capitalist ever.

3) Modern Times: It showcases the effects

of rationalization of labour with a motive

of profit maximization being taken to its

logical extreme.

4) Who’s Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex,

Lies and Global Economies: It simply

throws light on the gender biases

involved in Conventional Economics.

5) The Day After Tomorrow: It is a very

powerful story about the amalgamation

of environment and class in the fight for

a sustainable world.

43

5 Best (But Actually Worst) Pick Up Lines For Economists

1) I’ll be the MPC to your MPS, together we’ll be one.

2) Can I interest you in my stimulus package?

3) You won’t find any elasticity with my demand, because there are no substitutes.

4) I think you and me would have great potential output.

5) Despite a decade of inflation, I still dig your supply curve.

5 People Who Single Handedly Ruined The Entire Economies: 1) Steve Perkins: He single handedly raised the price of gasoline at a record time DUE TO A

HANGOVER. At a goal retreat offered by his company over the weekend, he got really

drunk. He continued it thorough Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, facing another

hangover, he came to office and started trading, FOR HIMSELF. He bought 7.13 million

barrels of Brent Oil with a value of $520 million over a time period of 19 hours. Prices of

gasoline fluctuated upwards within 30 minutes which is almost impossible. He was fined

72,000 pounds and was banned from participating in any trading activities in the future.

2) David Li: He created the Gaussian Copula Formula to eliminate guesswork while investing .It

started working wonders and everybody in the market- investors, regulators and bankers

started using it. David was considered to be a front runner for the Nobel Prize. BUT CHECK THE

EFFECTS. There is something called as Collateralized Debt Obligations which is nothing but

dozens of bonds bundled together in huge amounts of money. This is exactly what Li’s

formula enabled them to do. Prior to Li’s formula the money in CDO’s was $275 billion but

post that it was $4.7 trillion. Sadly, the supposedly sure things in the loan started crashing and

all of the losing bets came due at once and the rest is history.

3) William Paterson: He wanted to own one of the world’s most valuable and strategic

locations. So, he envisages starting a colony on the present day Panama Canal. Scotland

was at the middle of an economic depression but was completely amazed by Paterson’s

idea and money poured in from the society. A total of 400,000 pounds sterling total (= 1/5th

of money circulating in Scotland then) was invested. The first expedition reached the area.

Within a few days people started falling ill due to the tropical climate which the Scots were

never used to. The colonists finally bailed them off and Paterson himself was half dead in

fever. Scotland later signed the Acts of Union with England based on England’s promise to

pay them whatever wealth was flushed out of the nation due to Paterson’s scheme. Great

Britain was formed and Paterson was chilling somewhere in his grave.

4) Augustus Heinze - The Panic of 1907: He earned fortunes having founded United Copper in

USA but wished to earn some real New York Money. He was a board member in numerous

companies. So using his financial acumen, he built a rather silly plan with brother, Otto. They

thought of buying all shares of United Copper by themselves. ALL OF IT. Thus then investors

would be forced to buy it from them resulting in enormous money for the brothers. This

happened for a day as share price rose from $39 to $60. The hoarding of shares was soon

exposed and prices crashed. The Panic of 1907 was nothing but the disastrous chain

reaction and the New York Stock Exchange plummeted to 50 percent that is literally falling

down by 6,000 points. Businesses in the nation started falling apart.

5) George Soros:- The Man Who Broke The Bank Of England: Hungarian-born American

billionaire George Soros decided to take the one of the riskiest decisions in the history of

money and sold more than $10 billion in pounds in 1992. Because he “had a feeling” that the

value of British pound was about to fall. And it did. By 24% and he earned another $1.1 billion

How, I hear you ask? Because George Soros is The Man who BROKE the Bank of England. This

simple transaction cost the UK Treasury an estimated £3.4 billion and it forced the UK

government to withdraw from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (hence the 24% fall in the currency value); and hence that day is aptly known as “Black Wednesday”.

44

21stJanuary: India increases import duty on gold, platinum by 50 per cent: The Indian

government hiked the import duty on gold and platinum with immediate effect from four

to six per cent to control the ever increasing current account deficit. It also decided to

link the gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) with the gold deposit scheme offered by banks.

Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram stated this measure was taken to discourage

import of the precious metals.

6th March: Wipro one of the world's most ethical firms: Wipro Ltd has got the acclaim for

the second year as one of the world's most ethical firms by top business ethics think-tank

Ethisphere Institute. The company stated this was in recognition to its commitment for

ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate citizenship.

2nd April: Ambani brothers collaborate for telecom business: Companies of Ambani

brothers Mukesh and Anil made an announcement of a Rs.1,200 crore deal for

cooperation in telecom business.

9th April: A bite of the digital pie: Bitcoin, the decentralised and anonymous digital

currency, was valued at $266 per BTC. The next day its value fell to $95. Bitcoin surged up

and down rapidly all through the year: from $14 at the beginning of the year, to $1200 in

November to $600 in December.

9th April: 30 Tihar Jail inmates got selected in placement drive: 30 inmates of the Tihar Jail

got selected by 15 companies in the fourth campus placement drive organized by jail

authorities. The 30 inmates with good character, who will get release in the next six

months, were recruited by 15 companies.

1st June: Murthy returns: Narayana Murthy returned to Infosys as Executive Chairman and

Additional Director. The company has fared well since his return, but resignations from a

number of its senior executives have raised concerns.

10th August: Ratnakar Bank to acquire units of RBS: Ratnakar Bank has acquired units of

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) that is its Indian retail business. This is subject to approval by

the regulatory authorities.

15th August: World Bank to provide loan for affordable housing in India: The World Bank is

expected to provide India a loan of 100 million dollars that will be aiming to develop the

low cost housing sector in the country. This sum will be used for buying, improving and

setting up the economically efficient residential areas across India.

23rd August: Lawsuits Against Big Banks: The year 2013 brought with it the record breaking

Settlement between JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and the Department of Justice for $13

billion — around half of the bank’s annual profit, and the biggest price-tag ever seen for

one bank alone to settle a government lawsuit.

28th August: Freefalling rupee: The rupee fell to 69 against the dollar, the biggest fall in 18

years. The huge CAD was blamed and with the fall in the current account deficit, the

rupee stabilised to around 60 USD in December.

4th September: New man at the helm: The economist who predicted the financial crisis

was appointed as the Governor of the RBI. Newspapers promptly became alert and

every policy action from RBI is now even more closely scrutinised than before: Raghuram

45

Rajan’s appointment definitely makes this list. At 50 he is the youngest to occupy the seat

and has among other experience his tenure at IMF to boast of.

16th September: Look who’s back: Bill Gates reclaimed his position as the world’s richest

man from Mexican investor Carlos Slim. Gates has a net worth of 77.2 billion dollars,

according to Bloomberg.

1st October: The government refuses to work (at all): The United States government shut

down for 16 days after Congressional Republicans tried to defund Obamacare. 800,000

workers were sent home: the total cost to the economy was 24 billion dollars.

1st October: United States federal government shutdown of 2013: The shutdown set off a

chain reaction of concerns and market uncertainties. According to a White House Office

of Management and Budget report, the cost of furloughs in lost productivity alone tallied

up to $2 billion.

7th November: Tweeting in the market: Twitter launched its IPO amidst wide publicity but

also caution after the initial disappointment with Facebook shares. The Twitter IPO raised

$1.8 billion compared to Facebook’s $16 billion. Will social media be able to remain

popular with users and investors at the same time?

26th November: Holy admonition: The first non-European pontiff in 1300 years, Pope

Francis called unfettered capitalism “a new tyranny” and asked global leaders to

guarantee education and healthcare. It remains to be seen if this will shift the debate in

issues such as universal healthcare in the US.

29th November: Nano's marketing as a cheap car, a mistake- Ratan Tata: Ratan Tata

admitted that positioning Nano as the cheapest car was a mistake committed by the

company as it has not helped the matters as far as marketing of the car is concerned.

3rd December: Detroit’s Bankruptcy: On December 3, Detroit’s bankruptcy petition was

ruled in Federal Bankruptcy Court by Steven Rhodes. Judge Rhodes allowed the city to

file for bankruptcy protection, cutting out a giant chunk of its debt — billions in fact. This

has some, including Detroit city mayor, David Bing, optimistic about the suffering city’s

economic future.

10th December: Weeding out criminalization: Uruguay became the first country in the

world to legalise the sale, cultivation and distribution of cannabis. The government will

control the entire production process: even sale will be tightly regulated. Uruguay

expects to see a fall in drug trafficking profits.

25th December: Indian economy recorded the worst slump in more than a decade: The

Indian economy which is worth $1.8-trillion has experienced its worst slump in more than a

decade where the growth hovered below 5% for four consecutive quarters. Though the

experts believe that the grim days are over and economy will now progress further to a

higher rate of expansion. The country’s GDP in the first 3 quarters increased below 5% that

is 4.8%, 4.4 % and 4.8% respectively.

46