Indian Political Economy
In 1950, Indians embraced the political freedoms guaranteed by their Constitution. In 1991, Indians took a giant leap toward economic freedom by liberalizing large parts of India’s controlled economy. Preserving and enhancing these freedoms is today’s challenge.
This program engages with the ideas and importance of these economic and political freedoms, through academic research, policy outreach and advocacy, mentoring, public engagement and communication, and by building a network of academic scholars, technocrats, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and students.
India experienced tremendous economic growth in the last three decades, lifting over a quarter of a billion people out of extreme poverty. However, substantial challenges remain as Indians face flagging economic growth, inadequate access to education and healthcare, environmental degradation, social and economic disenfranchisement of various groups, corruption, stifled entrepreneurship, and lack of state capacity. Our mission is to foster a deeper understanding of the structural issues in India’s democratic politics, constitutional constraints, and markets, that stand in the way of a freer and more prosperous India.
Ideas of India Podcast is a fortnightly podcast hosted by Dr Shruti Rajagopalan. She engages top thinkers working on Indian political economy, history, culture, and beyond to examine the ideas that can propel India forward.
The podcast also provides, for doctoral and postdoctoral candidates working on the most pressing questions facing India, a platform to present their research to a wider audience.
The 1991 Project is an effort to revive the discourse on economic growth-centered reforms in India by focusing on economic ideas. Our team will publish essays, data visualizations, lecture series, podcasts, and policy papers demystifying the Indian economy in the coming months. It will also create a public history repository comprising policy documents, event timelines, and biographical accounts of the reformers who made these changes possible.
Oral Histories Initiative: An important part of The 1991 Project is to understand the political economy of policy reforms. It is essential to preserve the institutional memory of the active participants in the process to understand and learn how India might continue to address its structural problems. Our goal is to speak with the technocrats, bureaucrats, politicians, and economists, who worked on India’s liberalization and record their experiences in the form of oral histories.
Latest work in Indian Political Economy
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rasheed Griffith Explores the Complexities of the Caribbean
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Pranay Kotasthane Unravels the Global Semiconductor Industry
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Badri Narayanan and M. Krishnan Navigate the Choppy Waters of Fisheries Negotiations
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Aparna Chandra Puts the Supreme Court on Trial
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Doug Irwin on the History and Political Economy of Trade Policy
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rahul Matthan on AI, Privacy, and Digital Public Infrastructure
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Aditya Balasubramanian on Swatantra Party and Opposition Politics in India
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
The Art of Talking Films with Nasreen Munni Kabir
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
2023 in Review
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rajat Kochhar on Agricultural Market Power and Farmer Adaptation to Climate Change
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Vani Swarupa Murali on the Lack of Decentralization in India and Its impact on Water Depletion
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Kartikeya Batra on Long-Run Effects of Land Redistribution in India
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Vatsal Khandelwal on Pessimistic Belief Correction and its Impact on Well-Being
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Sarath Pillai on the Influence of Nineteenth Century German Thought on Early Twentieth Century Indian Constitutionalists
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rithika Kumar on the Impact of Male Migration on Women’s Political Engagement
Latest work in Indian Political Economy
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rasheed Griffith Explores the Complexities of the Caribbean
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Pranay Kotasthane Unravels the Global Semiconductor Industry
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Badri Narayanan and M. Krishnan Navigate the Choppy Waters of Fisheries Negotiations
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Aparna Chandra Puts the Supreme Court on Trial
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Doug Irwin on the History and Political Economy of Trade Policy
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rahul Matthan on AI, Privacy, and Digital Public Infrastructure
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Aditya Balasubramanian on Swatantra Party and Opposition Politics in India
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
The Art of Talking Films with Nasreen Munni Kabir
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
2023 in Review
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rajat Kochhar on Agricultural Market Power and Farmer Adaptation to Climate Change
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Vani Swarupa Murali on the Lack of Decentralization in India and Its impact on Water Depletion
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Kartikeya Batra on Long-Run Effects of Land Redistribution in India
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Vatsal Khandelwal on Pessimistic Belief Correction and its Impact on Well-Being
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Sarath Pillai on the Influence of Nineteenth Century German Thought on Early Twentieth Century Indian Constitutionalists
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rithika Kumar on the Impact of Male Migration on Women’s Political Engagement
Latest work in Indian Political Economy
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rasheed Griffith Explores the Complexities of the Caribbean
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Pranay Kotasthane Unravels the Global Semiconductor Industry
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Badri Narayanan and M. Krishnan Navigate the Choppy Waters of Fisheries Negotiations
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Aparna Chandra Puts the Supreme Court on Trial
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Doug Irwin on the History and Political Economy of Trade Policy
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rahul Matthan on AI, Privacy, and Digital Public Infrastructure
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Aditya Balasubramanian on Swatantra Party and Opposition Politics in India
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
The Art of Talking Films with Nasreen Munni Kabir
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
2023 in Review
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rajat Kochhar on Agricultural Market Power and Farmer Adaptation to Climate Change
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Vani Swarupa Murali on the Lack of Decentralization in India and Its impact on Water Depletion
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Kartikeya Batra on Long-Run Effects of Land Redistribution in India
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Vatsal Khandelwal on Pessimistic Belief Correction and its Impact on Well-Being
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Sarath Pillai on the Influence of Nineteenth Century German Thought on Early Twentieth Century Indian Constitutionalists
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Rithika Kumar on the Impact of Male Migration on Women’s Political Engagement
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Vanisha Sharma on the Effects of Internet Expansion in Developing Communities
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India
Duncan Webb on Reducing Anti-Transgender Discrimination in India
- | Mercatus Original Podcasts Mercatus Original Podcasts
- | Ideas of India Ideas of India