The Big What and Why

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."

Long before I realised that Robert Heinlein and Milton Friedman had (separately) popularised the truism; long before I read somewhere that the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, had a restaurant called TANSTAAFL; long before I wrapped my head around oodles of economics that was embedded in those nine words; long before all that, I remember who first uttered that dictum in my presence.

It was one of the many dad quips (buried amid the myriad dad jokes) that were sententious and sought to summarise a boring regional movie or a blaring news channel debate, and pretty much anything else that amused us while fighting for control over the TV remote. The context is fuzzy, but the intention – to teach me an important lesson – isn’t.

I had announced, back in 2011, that I would become an economist (I was largely influenced by The Economist magazine). Often, such decisions are heart-made. They are voguish and impetuous. Sadly, they lack research and logic. My dad knew that; my dad didn’t like that. And the Force to advise me was strong in him.

He had a simple lesson to deliver: Learning is a lifelong exercise. He’d take any opportunity to remind me that I had miles to go before I became an expert at anything; economics wasn’t even on the map. His solution was to bounce outlandish economic ideas and theories off me to test me and prepare me. TANSTAAFL fell into this category. If I didn’t know it, I would read up on it, understand it, never forget it; if I did know what it meant, kudos! Initially, I was rankled. So I resisted. Reluctantly, though, I had to agree I was impressed by my dad’s ingenuity. So I dedicated myself to the cause. Today, I am proud to admit, this blog is a product of my dad’s end game.

Another catalyst in the creation of this blog is an economics professor back in my college who had many pithy quotes – none of which I can remember. What I can’t forget, however, is one of the first few sentences he uttered in class. Close to 90% of all decisions we make are economic, he said. I’d like to take that to the next level: All our decisions are economic. After all, we are economic animals.

My blog will test my assertion. I will question – with an economist’s probing intellect (at least, that’s what I think I have) – every decision I make. Some answers will arrive in an instant, some will take a while in coming. It is possible a few may have to be left unanswered – at least for now. I will also share important ideas and theories that, at first blush, may have nothing to do with economics but will actually be related in some way. I will try to spread the thrill of economics, the thrill that I feel when I read something fascinating, the thrill that I get after I have worked out what is so fascinating about what I have just finished reading.

I’ve been bitten by the economics bug. It’s only fair that I make it go viral.