Let’s get rid of that nasty competition

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That most excellent of libertarian/econ blogs, Marginal Revolution, reports on a situation in India –

India receives 90% of its rain during monsoon season so forecasting monsoons is critical for productive farming. Fortunately, according to an article in Nature (subs. req.), the Indian Meteorological Department has found a way to make its forecast better than any other available – they have suppresed publication of the other forecasts. The Indian government says this is necessary to prevent “confusion.”

…[a competitive] Institute, for example, forecast that rainfall would be 34% below average in June and 12% below average in July while the government forecast “normal or above normal rains.” The rainfall in June? 35% below average.

Sigh. Good thing Indian farmers have entrenched bureaucrats with guaranteed paychecks scraped off taxpayer backs watching out for them.

6 thoughts on “Let’s get rid of that nasty competition”

  1. don’t worry, the pirated version of the report will be out soon. It’s the desi way.

  2. On a related note, there was a mild joke amongst college students in Hyderabad that the erstwhile CM, Chandrababu Naidu, by way of his “tech-vision”, would much rather have poor farmers surf the internet to alleviate their worries (with a pamphlet informing them of such enlightening websites as DesiBaba.com or the legendary MasalaBoard), rather than provide them with subsidized fertilizers or other such amenities.

    A good orgasm beats swallowing toxic nitrates out of financial frustration any day, and it was refreshing to speculate as to whether the state government recognized this fact; “For the People.”

    Only in India…

  3. A good orgasm beats swallowing toxic nitrates out of financial frustration any day…

    Man, you really know how to take a stand on controversial issues. You should be a politician 😉

  4. “Â…[a competitive] Institute,..”

    It would be good to know who this institute is, as we approach the end of July, monsoon this year has been ‘above normal’ with flooding in many parts of the country.

    Now get the point for ‘avoiding confusion’? The Indian MET Dept. is a government run institution, it doesn’t need to worry about competition.

  5. The Indian institute is the Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore. It is a govt research institute (and the best in India), and the people there publish their work on the monsoon in journals in addition to whatever reports they may write.