By Vishwanath Raghunathan
Why this book is the way it is?
This book is a typical example of why you should not be judging a book by its cover or by its name. As the philosopher William of Ockham said “the simplest explanation tends to be the right one”. It applies very aptly to V. Raghunathan book ‘Games Indians Play’. Unlike what the name suggests it is a book on behavioral economics which radicals macroeconomic concepts like Game Theory, Public goods, Free Rider problem etc. in a very lucid and reader friendly manner.
This book attempts to explain the economic behavior of Indians using certain behavioral economics tools. It may initially seem like a frustrated Indian’s rant towards the system and people’s behavior but it eventually develops into a critical analysis of the same along with suggesting and evaluating alternate behavioral patterns without any unrequired moralizing or sermonizing.
Vishwanath Raghunathan has given a very lucid and extremely interesting explanation of people’s choices and the thought process involved in making those choices. He has explained most of the concepts in very simple terms such that you do not require any prior knowledge of behavioural economics or macroeconomics to understand the book. It’s a fairly simple book aimed at common people .
The thought experiments and examples used in the book a very relatable and linked to day to day experiences. It uses examples like multiple people claiming reward after Veerappan’s death, Sourav Ganguly being dropped from the team at a crucial time, government’s misuse of Legislative powers in the ITC case , etc. which make the narrative very relatable and interesting. Raghunathan writing has a very profound humor element that makes it a very light read not burdened with big words or incomprehensible concepts.
The author has laid emphasis on how the strategies or algorithms that provide high returns or satisfaction points( as he quantifies it) are not suitable if we consider a long term scenario. He describes Indian people as privately smart and publicly foolish and brings out the hypocrisy of our private and public behavior. Day to day political social and economic problems have been analyzed using Game Theory and Prisoner’s dilemma. He has very well reflected on the dichotomy of temptation to defect for short-term games and the the economies of a persistent long term strategy.
At some places the author has oversimplified the problems and it may seem that the book doesn’t offer any deep insights and rather touches the issues on surface level. The alternatives suggested too sometimes seem not very suitable for practical implementation. However its a nice light hearted book, that helps you understand people’s behaviour and the thought process behind their political, social and economic decisions along with certain economic and psychological concepts explained in a very lucid manner accompanied by a gripping narrative and interesting thought experiments.
Review by Reenu
