Growth Is Good

Why do some industrial policies produce companies like TSMC, while others end up wasting public money? And why do successful Indian firms often fail to grow as large as they should?In this episode of Growth is Good, Rahul Ahluwalia speaks with Professor Chang-Tai Hsieh of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business about industrial policy, firm growth and some of the constraints holding back the Indian economy.Drawing on his own experience working at Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute, Professor Hsieh explains how Taiwan went about building a semiconductor industry and eventually creating TSMC. For him, the important lesson is not simply that the government supported a strategic industry. It is that projects faced a clear test: could they become commercially viable businesses with customers willing to pay for what they produced?They also discuss what happened after the 1991 reforms. As other constraints on Indian firms were removed, labour regulation became increasingly binding for larger firms. Contract labour eventually emerged as a way around this constraint, allowing firms to hire more workers but at an additional cost. Professor Hsieh describes this as a striking example of how businesses adapt to regulation even when the underlying friction remains.Watch the full episode for a conversation on TSMC, industrial policy, labour regulation, firm growth, productivity and what India needs to do to become a much richer country.Chapters00:00 - Why industrial policy needs accountability01:03 - Professor Hsieh’s personal connection to economic growth05:35 - How Taiwan built its semiconductor industry and created TSMC13:22 - The test every industrial policy should have: how do we know if it failed?25:43 - Industrial policy cannot substitute for a well-functioning economy27:45 - How economists diagnose what is going wrong in an economy33:50 - Why labour and capital are misallocated across Indian firms38:00 - How labour regulation became more binding after the 1991 reforms43:03 - Contract labour as a costly workaround for regulation44:30 - Why specific policies matter more than vague discussions about “institutions”48:44 - What India should prioritise for the next 20–30 yearsAbout Professor Chang-Tai HsiehChang-Tai Hsieh is the Phyllis and Irwin Winkelried Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and PCL Faculty Scholar at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His research focuses on economic growth and development, including firm growth, productivity and the allocation of resources across firms.Professor Hsieh’s profile:University of Chicago Booth profileSelected research relevant to this episode:• Contract Labor and Establishment Growth in India• The Life Cycle of Plants in India and Mexico• Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and IndiaGrowth is Good is a podcast by the Foundation for Economic Development exploring the ideas, people and policies behind India’s growth story.📌 Subscribe for more conversations with leading economic thinkers.🔔 Turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.#GrowthIsGood #ChangTaiHsieh #EconomicGrowth #IndustrialPolicy #TSMC #IndianEconomy #Productivity #EconomicReforms

In this episode of Growth is Good, Piyush Doshi sits down with Shashank Mani, Member of Parliament from Deoria and founder of Jagriti Yatra, to explore how economic growth can be built from India’s districts.They discuss why India’s next growth engines may lie beyond its largest cities, how local entrepreneurship can create jobs where people live, and what it would take to bring investment and labour-intensive manufacturing to districts such as Deoria.Drawing on his experience with Jagriti Yatra, Jagriti Udyam Kendra and Amrit Prayas, Shashank Mani explains his idea of “Middle of Diamond India”: an emerging middle of entrepreneurs and citizens who have enormous economic potential but limited institutional support. He shares examples of rural call centres, women-led enterprises and local businesses that are creating jobs in eastern Uttar Pradesh.The conversation also examines why district-level development requires government, society and the private sector to work together. Mani argues that ease of doing business must begin with a shift from control to trust, and explains how colonial-era administrative processes, excessive documentation and the absence of entrepreneurship-support institutions continue to constrain enterprise.Finally, they discuss Viksit Bharat, decentralisation, humanist economics and the “Banyan Revolution”: a movement to unlock human potential and build an entrepreneurial ecosystem across India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 districts.Watch the full episode to understand how India’s districts can become engines of enterprise, employment and national growth.00:00 Introduction02:00 Why economic growth is personal for Shashank Mani03:38 Amrit Prayas: bringing growth into politics07:09 Jagriti Yatra and “Middle of Diamond India”11:00 Creating local jobs through entrepreneurship16:00 Bringing manufacturing to smaller districts18:54 Decentralisation and district-level development21:45 What should Viksit Bharat look like?26:29 Strengthening India’s emerging middle31:07 Deregulation, trust and ease of doing business37:15 Humanist economics and the Banyan Revolution#GrowthIsGood #EconomicGrowth #Entrepreneurship #Deregulation #ViksitBharat #India

In this episode of Growth is Good, Rahul Ahluwalia sits down with Dr Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, CEO of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation, to unpack the relationship between science, technology, innovation and economic growth.They discuss why technology by itself does not create growth, how deep science becomes deep tech, and why research only matters for the economy when it turns into products, diffuses through society and raises productivity.The conversation also looks at India’s R&D challenge: why Indian industry has historically underinvested in research, why the industry-academia gap remains so wide, and what it will take for India to become a research and development powerhouse for the world.Dr Kalyanaraman explains how ANRF is trying to change India’s research ecosystem, including through greater ambition in academia, stronger industry partnerships, faster funding, and the ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund.Watch the full episode to understand how India can move from research to deep tech, from deep tech to products, and from products to growth.00:00 Introduction04:17 How science and technology drive economic growth09:03 Why research does not automatically become innovation12:38 India’s R&D challenge16:27 Building industry-academia collaboration24:30 ANRF, deep tech and solving India’s problems for the world40:15 How should developing countries approach R&D?#GrowthIsGood #EconomicGrowth #Research #Innovation #DeepTech #India

What does it actually take for India to become a high-income economy?In this episode of Growth is Good, Rahul sits down with Prachi Mishra — one of India's most respected economists, with stints at the IMF, Goldman Sachs, and the RBI. She now leads the Isaac Center for Public Policy at Ashoka University. One of the most wide-ranging conversations on India's economic future we've had on the show.

In this episode of Growth is Good, Rahul sits down with Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran — India's Chief Economic Advisor — for a candid, wide-ranging conversation on what it will really take for India to grow.From the "missing middle" in India's manufacturing to why 30-year-old policy prescriptions are still relevant today, Dr. Nageswaran brings together decades of thinking — as a scholar, investor, author, and now India's top economic policymaker.About Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran:Dr. Nageswaran is India's Chief Economic Advisor and co-author of "Can India Grow?" He has taught at several leading institutions, and previously worked in investment management across the US, Switzerland, and Singapore.Growth is Good is a podcast by the Foundation for Economic Development exploring the ideas, people, and policies behind India's growth story.📌 Subscribe for more conversations with India's leading economic minds.🔔 Turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.