Bretton Goods

Bretton Goods

By Pradyumna PrasadScienceSocial Sciences
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Bretton Goods episodes

  • Ep 46: Growth teams with Kartik Akileswaran

    I spoke to Kartik Akileswaran who runs Growth Teams - an initiative which helps build state capacity for economic growth in developing countries. We talked about


    - Why implementation is a binding constraint for economic policy

    - How industrial policy helps reduce information constraints for investors

    - Underrated growth reforms



    1 hr 24 min
  • Ep 45: What's going on with nuclear weapons?

    I spoke to Matt Korda who works at the Federation of American Scientists on nuclear weapon policy. We have an exciting discussion about the role of nuclear weapons, their growth and the dangerous arms races that are starting


    Some highlights of the show:

    • The advent of “exotic” nuclear weapon systems
    • China’s nuclear strategy has changed dramatically!
    • Why nuclear experts are most worried about South Asia
    • The new game theory of a multipolar nuclear world 
      • 38 min
    • Ep 44: Trade Policy Tragedy in India

      I talked to Anupam Manur, a professor of economics about India's trade policy before 1991. We talked about:

      • The scarcity mindset about foreign exchange reserves
      • The controversial 1966 devaluation
      • How did the pre-1991 import licensing system work?
      • “The financial account was almost non existent”
      • “Hindustan Motors and Toyota were set up at the same time but in 15 years Toyota sold 280 times the cars”
      • “Productivity growth was almost absent before 1991”
        • 51 min
      • Ep 43: Funding Science and Innovation in the UK

        I spoke to Professor Richard Jones, about how science funding in the UK could improve. Some interesting questions we talked about are

        • “Penny wise, pound foolish” in science funding
        • Creating markets for technological advances
        • How he’d invest a billion £ to accelerate scientific innovation?


          • 55 min
        • Ep 42: Parliamentarism

          I talked to Tiago Santos, a diplomat, about his book Why Not Parliamentarism. Tiago and I explore some questions here

          • What makes parliamentary democracies superior to presidential ones?
          • The creeping presidentialisation of parliamentary democracies
          • The optimal rate of constitutional amendments
            • 51 min
          • Ep 41: Libertarianism and podcasting with Amit Varma

            I talked to Amit Varma who runs one of my favourite podcasts - The Seen and the Unseen about politics, economics and public policy. We talked about

            • Libertarianism within the Indian canon
            • Cultivating your audience 
            • Being a public intellectual
            • The differences between generations 
              • 1 hr 14 min
            • Ep 40: Progress Studies

              I spoke to Jason Crawford of The Roots of Progress about the new movement of Progress Studies. We talked about


              • Building a culture of economic progress
              • Why are developed countries more averse to progress?
              • Is there a tradeoff between economic progress and existential risk?
              • What is the main constraint for the movement today?
                • 49 min
              • Ep 39: Macro Investing

                I talked with Mayank Seksaria of Liberty Mutual Investments about investing on macroeconomic views. We talked about


                • Translating macro views into investing allocations
                • A bottom up view of the macroeconomy
                • Evaluating macro talent
                • Why does institutional research cost so much?


                  • 54 min
                • Ep 38: The Bond King

                  I spoke to Mary Childs who is the author of the exceptional book The Bond King. We talked about

                  • How finance became an interesting profession
                  • How do you build institutions that succeed at investing?
                  • Can we automate the Fed?
                  • Financial history being undervalued
                    • 43 min

                  About Bretton Goods

                  From the publisher's feed

                  I talk to the most interesting people about economic growth