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Articles by Varun Gauri
Goodbye, India - 3 Quarks Daily
I suppose proud Indians are all alike, but every American-born, confused desi is confused in their own way. The Ohio hills reminded me of the snow-capped Himalayas. Not that I'd seen the Himalayas. I had seen a documentary about the heroism of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the dynamic duo who first scaled the Everest summit (it was about Hillary's heroism, mostly).
For the Blessings of Jupiter and Venus: A Novel
Laden with a heavy veil and gold bangles, Meena is getting married in front of a crowd of “two hundred thirty-four guests, plus or minus the last-minute cousin who might or might not arrived from Chandigarh.” Her mother and sister have flown in from Delhi. The groom is represented by proud parents, aunties in sarees, and the Punjabi 5, a set of “uncles” who are best friends with the groom’s father.
An Overabundance of Wishful Love
When Yiyun Li took questions about her new novel, The Book of Goose, at my local bookstore, someone said her new novel felt awfully dark.
The Great Books Weren’t All Great, but While Reading Them I Sometimes Was
by Varun Gauri At the University of Chicago, I majored in an interdisciplinary concentration most easily characterized as Great Books. I studied with an Indian poet, a Japanese postmodern literary critic, and an historian who admired Michel Foucault, but my most influential professors were men influenced by Leo Strauss, including Allan Bloom, Joseph Cropsey, Leon Kass, and Nathan Tarcov, a smart and stirring group of teachers.
Populism and development policy
Populism – the idea that a particular social group speaks for the nation as a whole, and should be first in the line for social benefits – threatens the core values of the post-World War order. It also challenges the World Bank’s own approach to development policy.
The Federal Reserve's Civilian Casualties
by Varun Gauri When the Federal Reserve Bank raises interest rates to fight inflation, rates rise worldwide, and debts in developing countries become more difficult to service. The consequences for low-income countries can be severe. For instance, When Paul Volcker decided in the early 1980s to push the prime rate over 20%, he triggered a debt crisis in the developing world, causing catastrophic unemployment and poverty.
The origins of social boundaries
This is the first in an occasional series of blogs on social boundaries and identity. I’m interested in the topic for obvious reasons. Social boundaries and identities, at least in some forms (and that is the rub!) have been argued to affect generalized trust and/or prejudice, governance and cooperation, and development outcomes. They may also be relevant to certain recent political developments.
Effective Altruism and Friendship
by Varun Gauri Effective altruism is having a moment. Books in the field are getting prominent reviews, the Effective Altruism Global conference took place in Washington DC this past weekend, and the movement now has the backing of at least a couple tech billionaires. Not bad for a social movement that celebrates self-sacrifice.
The Law’s Majestic Equality?
Literary writers do not think much of the law. In the last century, Anatole France wrote, mordantly: “The majestic equality of the laws prohibits the rich and the poor alike from sleeping under bridges, begging in the streets and stealing bread.” More recently, Aarvind Adiga says, “The jails of Delhi are full of drivers who are there behind bars because they are taking the blame for their good, solid middle-class masters. . . . The judges? Wouldn't they see through this obviously forced confession?
Constitutional Caprice
by Varun Gauri and Ayesha Khan Much has been written about the U.S. Supreme Court’s last term.The conservative majority is in a hurry to undo decades of jurisprudence.But what is the Court substituting in its place? In its recent decision, West Virginia vs Environmental Protection Agency, the Court declared that the Clean Air Act of 1970 did not authorize the EPA to establish a carbon dioxide emissions trading system.And in Kennedy v.
The Buddhist Self
by Varun Gauri When modern Buddhists and mindfulness practitioners say the ultimate cause of stress and suffering is the craving for permanence, especially the misguided craving for a permanent “self,” which “self” are they talking about?
eMBeDding behavioral insights in development projects - an update
Also available in: Español, Français, 中文 People think fast and often automatically, respond strongly to social incentives, and use mental models or specific worldviews to interpret information and perceptions. So, shouldn’t we be taking into account their thinking and behaviors while designing policies?
George Saunders and Buddhist Literary Criticism
by Varun Gauri For many of us, reading and writing literature is a spiritual endeavor. What does that mean? In his book A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, George Saunders describes the benefits of reading and writing short stories using concepts familiar to Buddhists. In what follows, I list the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths and explore their relationship to literature, leaning heavily on Saunders’ account.
Shifting social norms to reduce open defecation in rural India | Behavioural Public Policy | Cambridge Core
Allcott, H. and Rogers, T. (2014), ‘The Short-Run and Long-Run Effects of Behavioral Interventions: Experimental Evidence from Energy Conservation’, The American Economic Review, 104(10): 3003–3037. Ayalew, A. M., Mekonnen, W. T., Abaya, S. W. and Mekonnen, Z. A.
Behavioral Public Policy Faces a Crisis
The best responses to COVID-19 involve behavior change, including social distancing, mask use, and, eventually, vaccine uptake. So why has the behavioral public policy community, encompassing governmental behavioral insights units and a variety of not-for-profit and private organizations, played a marginal role? For the most part, our field wasn’t ready for a pandemic.
Community Paralegals and the Pursuit of Justice
The United Nations estimates that four billion people worldwide live outside the protection of the law. These people can be driven from their land, intimidated by violence, and excluded from society. This book is about community paralegals - sometimes called barefoot lawyers - who demystify law and empower people to advocate for themselves. These paralegals date back to 1950s South Africa and are active today in many countries, but their role has largely been ignored by researchers.
Search results for Law
In September 2016, a case went to trial in British Columbia that seeks to test the constitutionality of provincial laws that (1) ban private health insurance for medically necessary hospital and physician services; (2) ban extra-billing (physicians cannot charge patients more than the public tariff); and (3) require physicians to work solely for the public system or ‘opt-out’ and practice privately.
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