Search Results for: costs

Opportunity Costs and South Korea’s Nuclearization

South Korea’s launch of its Indo-Pacific strategy in December 2022 started the country’s ascent into “strategic clarity” for the US-led Indo-Pacific construct, winning favor with Washington for this policy shift. However, in January 2023, President Yoon Suk-yeol voiced the possibility of either building nuclear weapons indigenously or redeploying US tactical nuclear weapons in the face … Continue reading “Opportunity Costs and South Korea’s Nuclearization”

Opportunity Costs and The Tragedy of Pluralism

Us economists, we are used to the concept of opportunity costs, and we love pointing out that opportunity costs are everywhere. Part of my job when I teach principles of economics is to point this out relentlessly and throughout the semester – that no matter what you do in life, there are costs and consequences. … Continue reading “Opportunity Costs and The Tragedy of Pluralism”

Two Exciting Announcements in the Field of Public Policy

One, I’d written a blogpost on a World Bank report on the progress of rural sanitation in rural India. These were, according to me, the key takeaways from that report: Four key results emerge from this report: Enormous expansion in toilet access, with near-universal coverage of rural sanitation infrastructure Substantial increase in regular toilet use, … Continue reading “Two Exciting Announcements in the Field of Public Policy”

Sunk Cost Fallacy, Except It Need Not Always Be A Fallacy

About a decade or so ago, my wife and I went out on a date. Because our daughter was a toddler back then, this didn’t happen all that often. But that day was a rare ol’ oasis: a meal (lunch) followed by a movie. What a treat! And so lunch was had, and off we … Continue reading “Sunk Cost Fallacy, Except It Need Not Always Be A Fallacy”

Sowell and Roberts on Opportunity Costs

The essay that I linked to the other day, by Russ Roberts, contains a lovely little quote by Thomas Sowell: only trade offs, no solutions. Four small words, but they contain one of the most important lessons in all of economics: opportunity costs are everywhere. Opportunity costs are literally the cost of the opportunity foregone. … Continue reading “Sowell and Roberts on Opportunity Costs”

The Times, They’re A-Changing: The Firm Edition

People ‘job-hop’ much more these days. Where it was very unusual for people to change jobs at one point of time, this slowly but surely changed over time. And today, we live in a world where not only is job hopping common, an increasingly large number of people are choosing to not work formally with … Continue reading “The Times, They’re A-Changing: The Firm Edition”

Not Even Sunlight is Free

Teaching the Principles of Economics course to the first semester students at the Gokhale Institute is my absolute favorite thing to do. Both of these things matter – teaching this specific course matters, because I get to help young people realize how awesome economics can be. But teaching at the Gokhale Institute also matters, because … Continue reading “Not Even Sunlight is Free”

Happy New Year

Many years ago, and this happened soon after our daughter was born, my wife and I finally got a chance to go out on a date. Our daughter, we felt, was now old enough for us to be able to step out of the house for a while. Lunch and a movie was the plan. … Continue reading “Happy New Year”