The hundred year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared

Author: Jonas Jonasson


This is a cute little story of a 100 year old man who had a lot more living to do than just celebrate his 100th birthday at a senior center. It is translated from the swedish and that is probably the reason why the style is rather repetitive and awkward to read in English. You will see sentences like, "he ate what he ate and drank what he drank … " Nevertheless the humor does come through and the book is a wild romp. Not surprisingly this is a very popular book across the world and has been translated into 30 languages already. If you are looking for some light entertaining fare, this is perfect.

Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries

Author: Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya


Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagriya are well respected professors of Economics at Columbia University. They make a strong case for emerging countries to make growth their #1 priority. They conduct a detailed analysis of India’s past economic policies and conclude that the growth agenda of the 90s is what transformed India and built the strong economy that is in place today.

In the years following India’s independence, Nehru adopted some aspects of socialism. However, it became a lot more prominent under Indira Gandhi's reign (1966 - 1977). She nationalized insurance, oil companies, coal mines and reduced foreign investment to 40% or less in individual firms. She limited the size of urban land holdings and extended government control over imports and exports of all major products. The result of all these measures was that the economy took a nosedive and per capita income rose 0.3 % annually during her tenure.  As recent as 1991, India’s fiscal deficit was close to 8.5% of the GDP and its foreign reserves were barely $1 Billion, which would only pay for a few weeks of imports.

In 1991, P. V. Narasimha Rao became the ninth Prime Minister of independent India and appointed Manmohan Singh, a renowned economist as the Finance Minister.  Together,  they got rid of import licensing and opened up the country to foreign investment. Tariffs were streamlined and reduced. Private entry into airlines, telecom, banking, automobiles, etc were allowed. Reservation of large number of products for exclusive manufacturing in India was eliminated. In other words, they implemented policies to open up the economy and converted India from a socialistic economy into a capitalistic one.

The book has plenty of anecdotes that underscore the author’s points, but is not very engaging. The book has loads of useful stats on India:

• As of March 2013 India has 28 states and 9 union territories
• 25% of India's pop is SC/ST
• Between 2010 and 2025, India will add 131 million people between ages 20 - 49
• India is 1/4 of China’s per capita consumption of electricity. Even Vietnam has overtaken it by 60%
• 80% of the land holdings are less than 2 hectares and 60% are less than 1 hectare. In case you are wondering what the heck is a hectare, it is 2.47 acres. 
• All farm output is first sold to government and then redistributed. 
• There are 200+ labor laws between central and state governments. 
• To open a medical college in India you need the approval of the IMC (Indian medical council ). 
• Maharashtra and the 4 southern states have 57% of medical seats and 54% of the colleges. 
• Bihar has one seat for 157000 people, Karnataka has 1 for 10800. 

In summary, this book provides a comprehensive treatment of the post-indepence Indian Economy and should be ready by anyone wishing to learn more about the economic experiments that took place in India over the last 50+ years.

The Selfish Gene

Author: Richard Dawkins


I read a dog-eared copy of this book and it has a little sign on it that says it is the 30th Anniversary edition. It is amazing how widely this has been read and yet, I found the treatise both novel and fascinating. I was expecting a lecture on Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest" theory, but was pleasantly surprised to see this recast and retold from the viewpoint of our "selfish" genes.

Richard starts his story from the time the earth was a primordial soup of simple molecules that randomly combined with one another and stumbled upon a way to replicate themselves. Thence were born the "replicators" that are the heroes in this story. These evolved into the DNA strands and all their varied incarnations that we have today. According to Richard our bodies are mere "vehicles" for these replicators to propagate. The replicators have a singular purpose which is to multiply and carry forth through time, and the fittest and most numerous of them survive and take over. Occasionally they undergo mutation and result in better or worse replicators. The worse ones die out and the better ones preferentially survive hence creating a new breed of replicators, one that is by definition better that their parents.

The book also goes into more complex discussions on whether genes are the only kind of replicators we know, or could there be others. Furthermore, are these replicators most effective in a single organism, or could there be some kind of group selection that is possible as well. With the exception of a colony of bees or ants, most of the genes that share a common replication channel, tend to be in a single organism like the human body. Another interesting question is do the genes only manipulate the body they are in, or can they have effects on other organisms as well. Richard elucidates several examples where one species makes use of another to propagate its genes (cuckoos, ants, etc.)

Overall, this is an awesome book that is a must read for anyone interested in the origin of our species. Although Richard avoids any scientific notation and does not require any background in biology, the book makes its case with some rigorous logical arguments that will take some focus and attention.