He’s been an academic who’s studied the country, and a businessman who’s created wealth and jobs. Now he wants to help India achieve its potential. Naushad Forbes joins Amit Varma in episode 282 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life and learnings — and the roadmap that can help India lift its citizens.
Also check out:
1. The Struggle And The Promise: Restoring India’s Potential — Naushad Forbes.
2. Ram Guha Reflects on His Life — Episode 266 of The Seen and the Unseen.
3. Aakar Patel Is Full of Hope — Episode 270 of The Seen and the Unseen.
4. PG Wodehouse on Amazon.
5. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah).
6. Elite Imitation in Public Policy — Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok).
7. The Great Redistribution — Amit Varma.
8. Early Indians — Tony Joseph.
9. Tony Joseph’s episode of The Seen and the Unseen.
10. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich.
11. Two-and-a-Half Bengalis Have an Economics Adda — Episode 274 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswaro Sengupta and Shrayana Bhattacharya).
12. India’s Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality — Amit Varma.
13. On Inequality — Harry Frankfurt.
14. Our Unlucky Children (2008) — Amit Varma.
15. Fund Schooling, Not Schools (2007) — Amit Varma.
16. The Beautiful Tree — James Tooley.
17. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan).
18. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya).
19. Black Beauty — Anne Sewell.
20. Enid Blyton and Gerald Durrell on Amazon.
21. Leave it to Psmith — PG Wodehouse.
22. Survival In Auschwitz — Primo Levi.
23. Homage to Catalonia — George Orwell.
24. Steven Van Zandt: Springsteen, the death of rock and Van Morrison on Covid — Richard Purden.
25. Marginal Revolution.
26. Econ Talk — Russ Roberts’s podcast.
27. Conversations With Tyler — Tyler Cowen’s podcast.
28. Deirdre McCloskey on Amazon.
29. Manmohan Singh’s budget speech on July 24, 1991.
30. Government’s End: Why Washington Stopped Working — Jonathan Rauch.
31. The oddest entry in Business Week’s 2009 list of the 50 Most Powerful People in India.
32. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra).
33. The Lost Decade — Puja Mehra.
34. State Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century — Francis Fukuyama.
35. The Origins of Political Order — Francis Fukuyama.
36. Political Order and Political Decay — Francis Fukuyama.
37. James Buchanan on Amazon.
38. Public Choice Theory — Episode 121 of The Seen and the Unseen.
39. Public Choice: A Primer — Eomonn Butler.
40. Wonder Woman, the God of War and Public Choice Economics — Amit Varma and Kumar Anand.
41. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy — Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen.
42. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah).
43. Why Children Labour (2007) — Amit Varma.
44. Becoming Modern — Alex Inkeles and David H Smith.
45. The Overton Window.
46. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty — Albert O Hirschman.
47. India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy — Ramachandra Guha.
48. Wealth And Poverty Of Nations — David S Landes.
49. The Uncommon Reader — Alan Bennett.
50. On Liberty — John Stuart Mill.
51. Patriots and Partisans — Ramachandra Guha.
52. Democrats and Dissenters — Ramachandra Guha.
53. 1984 — George Orwell.
54. The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph — Albert O Hirschman.
55. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin on Spotify.
56. Brahms: Second Piano Concerto in B Flat.
57. Beethoven: The Piano Concertos.
58. Beethoven: Symphonies 1 to 9.
59. Schubert: Impromptus.
60. The Philadelphia Story — George Cukor.
61. Casablanca — Michael Curtiz.
2. Ram Guha Reflects on His Life — Episode 266 of The Seen and the Unseen.
3. Aakar Patel Is Full of Hope — Episode 270 of The Seen and the Unseen.
4. PG Wodehouse on Amazon.
5. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah).
6. Elite Imitation in Public Policy — Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok).
7. The Great Redistribution — Amit Varma.
8. Early Indians — Tony Joseph.
9. Tony Joseph’s episode of The Seen and the Unseen.
10. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich.
11. Two-and-a-Half Bengalis Have an Economics Adda — Episode 274 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswaro Sengupta and Shrayana Bhattacharya).
12. India’s Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality — Amit Varma.
13. On Inequality — Harry Frankfurt.
14. Our Unlucky Children (2008) — Amit Varma.
15. Fund Schooling, Not Schools (2007) — Amit Varma.
16. The Beautiful Tree — James Tooley.
17. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan).
18. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya).
19. Black Beauty — Anne Sewell.
20. Enid Blyton and Gerald Durrell on Amazon.
21. Leave it to Psmith — PG Wodehouse.
22. Survival In Auschwitz — Primo Levi.
23. Homage to Catalonia — George Orwell.
24. Steven Van Zandt: Springsteen, the death of rock and Van Morrison on Covid — Richard Purden.
25. Marginal Revolution.
26. Econ Talk — Russ Roberts’s podcast.
27. Conversations With Tyler — Tyler Cowen’s podcast.
28. Deirdre McCloskey on Amazon.
29. Manmohan Singh’s budget speech on July 24, 1991.
30. Government’s End: Why Washington Stopped Working — Jonathan Rauch.
31. The oddest entry in Business Week’s 2009 list of the 50 Most Powerful People in India.
32. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra).
33. The Lost Decade — Puja Mehra.
34. State Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century — Francis Fukuyama.
35. The Origins of Political Order — Francis Fukuyama.
36. Political Order and Political Decay — Francis Fukuyama.
37. James Buchanan on Amazon.
38. Public Choice Theory — Episode 121 of The Seen and the Unseen.
39. Public Choice: A Primer — Eomonn Butler.
40. Wonder Woman, the God of War and Public Choice Economics — Amit Varma and Kumar Anand.
41. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy — Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen.
42. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah).
43. Why Children Labour (2007) — Amit Varma.
44. Becoming Modern — Alex Inkeles and David H Smith.
45. The Overton Window.
46. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty — Albert O Hirschman.
47. India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy — Ramachandra Guha.
48. Wealth And Poverty Of Nations — David S Landes.
49. The Uncommon Reader — Alan Bennett.
50. On Liberty — John Stuart Mill.
51. Patriots and Partisans — Ramachandra Guha.
52. Democrats and Dissenters — Ramachandra Guha.
53. 1984 — George Orwell.
54. The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph — Albert O Hirschman.
55. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin on Spotify.
56. Brahms: Second Piano Concerto in B Flat.
57. Beethoven: The Piano Concertos.
58. Beethoven: Symphonies 1 to 9.
59. Schubert: Impromptus.
60. The Philadelphia Story — George Cukor.
61. Casablanca — Michael Curtiz.
Check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.
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The illustration for this episode is by Nishant Jain aka Sneaky Artist. Check out his work on Twitter, Instagram and Substack.