Gentle Leviathan

Gentle Leviathan explores the intersections of governance, politics & societal dynamics. With a focus on nuanced analysis, it offers readers deep dives into contemporary issues & timeless ideas, fostering critical thinking & engaging discourse.

By Apurva Kumar

· Launched 6 years ago

Let me read a few essays

Gentle Leviathan

A newsletter that curates ideas from the world of policy, politics and development with a special focus on India

Latest Essays

Dispatch #124: The art of the 'Threshold Statecraft'

How India built a welfare state that works perfectly, and solves the wrong problem.

Jun 13 • Apurva Kumar

Dispatch #123: Nine times richer, still slouching

In this dispatch, I read Bradford DeLong's sweeping economic history of the twentieth century & ask the one question-how did the world get 9 times richer?

May 22 • Apurva Kumar

Dispatch #122: The big bet: How Tamil Nadu built an economy decades before it could see the returns

This dispatch examines the long-term investments made by successive Tamil Nadu governments that produced a distinctive model of structural growth.

May 9 • Apurva Kumar

Dispatch #121: An economy that grew, and a workforce that didn't

A data dispatch on India's labour crisis.

Apr 19 • Apurva Kumar

Dispatch #120: The limits of Civilizational Economics

This dispatch dives into Rohit Lamba’s paper on India’s governing trilemma & argues that the country’s development trajectory is not constrained by money or ideas.

Mar 29 • Apurva Kumar

Dispatch #119: No room for a family: How India's housing crisis is quietly rewriting its demographic future - Part 1

In this dispatch, we explore how the rising cost of housing in India’s cities is quietly reshaping family decisions.

Mar 10 • Apurva Kumar

Dispatch #118: Why India's biggest problem isn't policy, it's the fear of getting it wrong

This dispatch delves into the Economic Survey's most uncomfortable argument.

Feb 22 • Apurva Kumar