Decentralize the Skies: A Swift Regional Model to Fix India’s Aviation Mess

India recently witnessed one of the worst aviation disruptions in years. Thousands of passengers were stranded across airports, entire flight schedules collapsed, and social media was filled with videos of frustrated travelers sleeping on floors. The chaos was not just an operational failure, it was the outcome of a deeper conflict between the regulator and the airlines, triggered by the new DGCA guidelines, especially the rollout of FDTL Phase 2 for cabin crew scheduling.

Cynicism Redeemed: My 2025 Epigrams

2025 was another great year for scoffing at politicians and Washington. Here are some of the zestiest lines from articles I wrote last year.

Trump Returns

“Trump’s economic victory proclamations are akin to a bad magician whose tricks are so lame that his audience starts to heckle him.”

“Trump’s biggest handicap now is that he’s no longer running against ‘Sleepy Joe Biden.’ Instead, Trump is going up against reality.”

Cutting Interest Rates Isn’t a Cure‑All for the Economy

When US unemployment ticked up to 4.6 percent in November 2025, the Financial Times declared that the Federal Reserve should cut rates to rescue workers. From the Keynesian view, if jobs falter, you throw more money at the problem. Yet those policies create short‑term bubbles and long‑term pain. An Austrian assessment shows why cutting rates merely delays the needed adjustment and why the real cure is higher, market‑driven rates and fiscal restraint.

How to Compare Prices and Progress over the Years

We often scoff at supposedly how cheap things cost in decades gone by. For example, my wife and I recently watched a stage play of Jean Shepherd’s A Christmas Story, set in 1940’s America. (The lead character, Ralphie, wanted a Daisy Red Ryder Air Rifle, but all the adults warned him “you’ll shoot your eye out”). In the stage play, Ralphie’s dad complains to the mother that he had to buy a new car battery at the outrageous price of $6 dollars. This low price got a big laugh, as was intended.