The National Democratic Alliance in December 2021 repealed three farm laws it had spent months insisting were necessary and non-negotiable. Coincidentally, they were timed to precede state elections that the government could not afford to lose, while nothing in the underlying shape of agricultural markets was rebuilt in their place. It cost the government nothing other than the appearance of having lost. Perhaps mathematics works differently in politics, for this was the chea

Why do some countries have high living standards while others remain poor? Economists, historians, and political scientists have debated this question for decades. Countries have received new technologies, foreign investment, development assistance, and policy reforms, yet large differences in income and living standards remain. Natural resources alone cannot explain these differences. Nigeria has large oil reserves, and the Democratic Republic of Congo has enormous mineral w

Starting a new day with early news in the morning – A great way to stay in the loop! Then there are these two pieces of articles on the notifications: the one below details the deadly war in the Gaza strife; the one above, was somewhat more entertaining: a politician had made an outrageous, seemingly dim-witted, and unimaginable statement about taxes and investments. Then more and more similar content appears on one’s news feed – more nonsensical proclamations and attention-g

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike on a compound in Tehran on the morning of February 28, 2026. The strike also killed his daughter, son-in-law, a grandchild, commander of the IRGC, the defence minister, and the armed forces chief of staff. The Pentagon named it Operation Epic Fury. Eight days later, the succession question was closed: Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was named the new Supreme Leader. A regime, it turns out, can survi

Singapore has become one of the world's most successful multiracial societies through policies that encourage integration and shared national identity. But which aspects of its model could realistically be adapted by other countries?

Imagine graduating from high school having learned and retained calculus but not knowing the logistics of taxes, creating budgets, or loan agreements. Despite the growing importance of financial knowledge, many students complete their education without formal instruction in personal finance. Research from organizations such as the OECD suggests that while teenagers increasingly use financial products and services, many still struggle to apply financial knowledge to everyday s

A widely covered 2025 study argues that air pollution from Roman-era mining measurably lowered IQ scores across an entire empire. The atmospheric science behind that claim holds up well. The path from an ice core to an individual mind is considerably shakier.