Undergraduate / Post graduate essay for masters in Public policy: Competencies to be gained at the school [3]

Essay Prompt: What competencies do you expect to gain from studying at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy? How do you see the MPP as contributing to your career?

Regarding economic policies Henry Hazlitt once said, "The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups." I believe as much as it holds true for economic policies it is equally true for public policies in general which go beyond the economic rationale and requires knowledge of wide range of subjects ranging from science to sociology. For instance while working on a summer intern project of management of parking spaces in the Walled City, Jaipur, I realised how the issue of parking which at first sight appeared to be a managerial problem had its roots in economic as well as technological aspects. The solution to the problem did not only required addressing the issue of discouraging demand through pricing mechanism affecting people's behaviour, but also to be simultaneously backed by a strong public transport system in the city. I therefore believe that for a successful career in public policy I should acquire such skills that can help me look beyond the obvious. In my opinion at LKYSPP with a peer group coming from around the globe, I would get an opportunity to build this diverse perspective critical to policymaking, but most importantly a unique Asian perspective.

As a Legislative Assistant to Member of Parliament I worked on a number of issues of national importance related to parliamentary debates and interventions. During this time I realised the complexity involved in managing the short term while simultaneously balancing building for the long term. For example, the debate around introducing 51% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail in India was largely based on two main narratives. The first one that advocates the economic benefits to the farmers in the form of right prices for their produce and new employment opportunities and the other, which criticizes it for being anti to retail shopkeepers and vendor who would lose their source of income because of it. At this junction in order to successfully attain the desired policy outcomes, besides the analytical and negotiating skills required for policymaking one also requires policy temperament. I believe the stellar faculty at LKYSPP with years of experience both as academics and practitioners will help me develop this policy temperament which would prove crucial in my career in the long run.

In future, I intend to pursue a career in development and public policy consultancy and envision myself working with both private and public sector particularly with the international organisations such as the World Bank and the UNDP. At LKYSPP, I think I would be benefited in great deal by its career development activities in particular the career development workshops. Studying at LKYSPP will also give me a platform to access internships and job opportunities at these places.

Scholarship / 'man equipped with the right tools' - Scholarship review [2]

I am applying for a scholarship, the prompt of the essay is as follows:

"Use this sheet to describe your educational and career goals. Please indicate (1) why you wish to undertake further studies. (2) why you have chosen the institution you wish to attend and (3) how the course you plan to pursue will prepare you for the future. Do not provide a statement written for another purpose. (Attach additional sheet if needed)"

Kindly review the essay and check if it sounds superficial anywhere along with grammatical errors. Thank you!

A man equipped with the right tools needs no further learning as everything else comes to him as an implicit understanding when he applies the knowledge of the tools that he has acquired. While working with an NGO Mansha Manav Kalyan Samstha on a project of Farmers' club programme of NABARD as an intern, I learnt a great deal about what I knew before hand and what I didn't and still further what I need to learn myself. It was this time that my interest in the subject of microeconomic policy along with development bloomed. It was also the time when my penchant for exploring new market based solutions fostering sustainable growth through inclusive globalisation began. During this time I felt the need of learning new research tools in economics, which I realised my undergraduate knowledge in economics was not sufficient to equip me with. It is for these reasons that I wish to undertake further studies in economics which would help me acquire the skills needed for a successful career in microeconomic policy and development.

Warwick has a formidable international reputation for its economic department and is known for its rigorous training in economics. I believe a year spent at Warwick under Professor Chris M Woodruff who has expertise in the field of economic development, and has conducted extensive research in microenterprise in Mexico with a number of articles and books' chapters to his credit, can assist me in my goal. Besides, studying at Warwick, I can also be benefited by its research experience in the field of development economics through research centres such as Competitive Advantage in Global Economy.

In future I want to work either with a policy think tank in my aforementioned field of interest or pursue a career as an economist in private or public institutions or in an international organisation such as UNDP, World Bank, etc. for a year or two and then to pursue PhD in economics to further my career in academic and research. By the end of my course I would be better informed about the tools and techniques that are required for advanced research analysis, helping me to pursue my career in research.

Scholarship / How working with a member of parliament influence your career? Fellowship Essay! [2]

The prompt for the essay is as follows:
Please indicate why you wish to participate in the LAMP Fellowship.
Your statement should be no longer than 500 words.
Your statement could address:
a)How you think your work with a Member of Parliament will contribute to the policy process
b)How working as a LAMP Fellow furthers your professional aspirations and/or educational goals
c)Why the LAMP Fellowship is a better prospect than other opportunities available to you

In the pursuit of my desire for making a career in public policy underlies what Henry Hazlitt once said, "The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups." This requires that for a successful career in the field of public policy which is both challenging and exhaustive one should not just be a master of one subject, but must be endowed with a personality radiating multi-dimensional traits. For instance while working on a project of parking management in the walled city Jaipur this summer, I realised that a problem that on the surface looked to be a managerial problem wrapped within it issues related to sound pricing mechanism and incentives for people. It is for these reasons that I wish to participate in the LAMP fellowship programme as it will provide me a platform for exposing myself to myriad of issues (ranging from economics to sociology to science etc.) of national importance and develop a better understanding and a dynamic perspective. As per my knowledge of all the programmes for internships or fellowships that are available to fresh undergraduates in the country today are tailored around specific fields and not much diverse as is required for a hard core public policy career. On the contrary to this while listening to the experiences of the current and past LAMP fellows I was intrigued by the plethora of issues that the MPs (member of parliament) have to deal with on daily basis and was equally swapped off the floor when I learnt that some of the fellows got a chance to interact with the people at the grass root level (of the MP's constituency) who directly get affected by the policies that are formulated inside the four walls of parliament. I believe if selected, LAMP would help me in enriching and shaping my knowledge about policies and their impacts and would thus play a pivotal role in my career in the long run.

I have a firm belief in human productivity and I regard happiness so derived as supreme. I constantly want to strive harder to achieve a sense of accomplishment by contributing something substantial. I see LAMP as one such unique opportunity for me wherein, while working with a MP and assisting him/her in the parliament policy debates I can voice my own opinion through discussions with the MP and thus contribute in the policy process that influences the entire nation.

Graduate / 'a policy think tank' - SOP Msc Economics, your academic interests [5]

"Describe your academic interests and reasons for applying. Detail your career objectives and any relevant non-academic achievements as well as any publications. Outline any other relevant experience including attendance at specialist workshops or short courses. "-----this is the prompt of my SOP.

I would be happy if you can help me edit it and also comment on its flow and relevance and if it sounds superfluous anywhere. Thanks :)

I am keen to further my knowledge in economics and develop expertise in the field of microeconomic policy and development economics by pursuing MSc. Economics at University College London (UCL). It would be clichéd to say that I want to work in the field of development economics, only because I have lived my entire life in a developing country and is quite exposed to the dynamics of a booming economy. I would rather say that the desire to work in this field is in continuation with my work experiences as intern and the understanding that I have developed about the micro-level economy and its importance in development.

It was my internship with Mansha Manav Kalyan Samastha, an NGO that sowed the first seeds of interest in microeconomic policies and development within me. I was not just exposed to the positive changes that were coming through microfinance, but also to an alternative to government subsidized credit facilities in the country. It was also enchanting to observe the operation of large scale economies and the incentives that were collected by the private microfinance companies here. In my opinion, microfinance is a key to understand the process of unlocking the market at the bottom of the pyramid for private sector (which so far has remained out of it) and thus bringing better choices to poor at affordable prices through market competition.

I believe a year spent at UCL under Lecturer Beatriz Armendariz who has expertise in the field of economic development, and has conducted extensive research in microfinance in Latin America and has a number of articles and books to her credit (for instance "The Economics of Microfinance") can assist me in my goal. Besides, studying at UCL, I can take advantage of its expertise in microeconomic policy with research centres such as Evaluation of Development Policy and Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy.

The interest that I developed at Mansha for market based solutions for addressing different developmental issues motivated me to do my second internship with Centre for Civil Society, New Delhi-a policy think tank. I worked on a paper titled as "Management of Parking Spaces in Walled City, Jaipur-a case study of Bapu Bazaar and Jauhari Bazaar." I tried to explore the viability of an efficient price mechanism and management practices to address the current and future policy prescriptions in this field. Recently, my paper has also been accepted in a journal called 'Nucleus-An Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences' (ISSN-0972-7523) and would be published in its forthcoming edition.

In future I want to work either with a policy think tank in my aforementioned field of interest or pursue a career as an economist in private or public institutions or in an international organisation such as UNDP, World Bank, etc for a year or two and then to pursue PhD in economics to further my career in academic and research.

In order to acquire more research skills I am now assisting Professor Alpana Kateja , University of Rajasthan, on a paper on health inequities across different states in India and factors affecting it. Besides being an academic achiever and a university topper in my current undergraduate study, I have been actively involved in entrepreneurial activities. My friends and I have been successful in coming out with an independent newsletter 'Aakaar' and spreading its circulation to five colleges in the city.

I would like to end my essay hoping that my credentials can convince the admission officers to offer me a seat in my preferred course enabling me to reap incentives from a world class faculty and culturally diverse classroom.

Undergraduate / 'Classical economists' SOP for Graduate admission Msc Economics [3]

Describe your academic interests and reasons for applying. Detail your career objectives and any relevant non-academic achievements as well as any publications. Outline any other relevant experience including attendance at specialist workshops or short courses. This is the prompt for the essay.

The objective economic condition and the government policies in a nation work in hand in hand to decide the fate of economic development of a nation. At the base of economic development lies an ever going debate regarding the appropriate role of state in economy. Classical economist believed in individual property rights and encouraged the growth of private capital which subsequently shaped the industrial revolution in the west. Later, with the rise of capitalism rose concerns regarding the consequences of market-based approach to development. Much of these concerns were centred on the inequalities of income and wealth. Karl Marx believed the solution to these challenges was not a market-based approach rather communist one, in which the needs of community dominated over individual. Marxist line of thought influenced the development economics and provided grounds for structuralist and dependency theories.

When the colonised nations were gaining independence post world war second, there was a growing concern of their rapid economic growth to level the already developed nations. During this time, the rapid economic growth of former Soviet Russia through the total state ownership of capital influenced the policy makers in the new nations. The planned allocation of resources which favoured investment over consumption led many policy makers and economists to conclude that, particularly in the context of poor nations, planning was essential for the efficient allocation of an economy's resources. The same perspective shaped the economic policies in India, which resulted into socialism in the country leading to corrupt inefficient monopoly markets in almost all sectors of economy. The worst affected were the poor. Even post liberalisation policies, traditional perspective of market scepticism pervaded many sectors of economy. For instance, the market serving the poor at the bottom of pyramid continues to be over-regulated and the entry of private players is still obscure. The reason of this is not just the general consensus among the policy makers that private sector cannot contribute towards poverty reduction, but also the unattractiveness of these markets to private players. This traditional approach of justifiable wealth distribution is now undergoing a paradigm shift to wealth creation and is focussing at capacity building for poor at the micro-level; to escape poverty through self-sustaining market based solutions.

After my first year at college, I interned with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) Mansha Manav Kalyan Samsthan working in building farmers' network in Basnwara district of Rajasthan, as per the guidelines of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD)'s farmers' club programme. These farmers' club work not only as a link between the bank and farmers for microcredit loans, but also serve as a forum for creating awareness regarding the latest agricultural techniques and capacity building in rural villages. My interest quickly rose when I witnessed the changes first hand which challenged my initial doubts rooting from the failure of subsidized credit facilities of government through Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP). The subsidized credit through IRDP did not only fail to target right people, but also diminished the incentives of the banks to collect saving deposits as a result of which poor were left with unattractive and inefficient ways to save. Today, a large number of private microfinance institutions along with non-governmental organisations work to provide microfinance services for the poor to let them escape poverty. Microfinance has shown a way to unlock the unorganised, unattained and monopoly governed markets at the bottom of the pyramid to make profit as well as development. The market at this level holds immense potential and the key for the future growth. This makes it pertinent that we broaden the scope of our knowledge to understand ways to penetrate this market.

Education is another sector which failed to get deregulated post liberalisation and has largely remained unexplored by the private sector. The presence of private players has remained restricted to the rich urban locales. The poorer section (both urban and rural) is either devoid of 'any' type of educational institution or is served through state-run schools which are rampant with high teacher absentee ratios, poor infrastructure, lower quality education and accountability. At present, the poor suffer due to lack of options for them in the educational market of the country. Private sector on the other hand remains wary of entering these markets as they see no profits through them. There is therefore a need to develop new models to fill the gap between supply and demand of quality education by creating sustainable incentives for private sector to entail choices for the poor. While interning for Centre for Civil Society (CCS), New Delhi-a policy think tank as a research extern, I came across their school choice campaign based on education vouchers-propagated by Milton Friedman. The programme focuses on funding the students rather the school, thereby ensuring choice to the students and thus competition in the education market. Choice creation in the market can work to enforce better accountability and can show improvement in the quality of education served through market competition at lower rates. Different public private partnership (PPP) models are emerging today; I believe it is important to understand the conditions in which each model has emerged successful to apply it in other areas.

At CCS, I worked on a paper paper titled as "Management of Parking Spaces in Walled City, Jaipur-A case study of Bapu Bazaar and Jauhari Bazaar." I did an extensive research to understand the existing parking problems, its reasons and management in the walled city. Through this paper I tried to explore the viability of an efficient price mechanism and management practices to address the current and future policy prescriptions in this field. Recently, my paper has also been accepted in a journal called 'Nucleus-An Interdisciplinary Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (ISSN-0972-7523) and would be published in its forthcoming edition. Presently, I am assisting Professor Alpana Kateja , University of Rajasthan, on a paper on health inequities in India and factors affecting it.

In future, I am keen to engage myself in developing more self-sustaining market based solutions for poverty alleviation and other sectors of economy in developing countries at the microeconomic level. To succeed in this endeavour, I want to improve my understanding of how markets, institutions and states interact together and create sustainable economic models. With regard to this, I would like to start by improving my knowledge on what I have already learned through my work experiences and would therefore like to build on my knowledge on microfinance and other issues related to microeconomic policy to better understand and analyse the opportunities available in this field. I believe a year spent at UCL under Lecturer Beatriz Armendariz who has an expertise in the field of economic development and has conducted extensive research in micro-finance in Latin America with a number of articles and books on her credit, for instance "The Economics of Microfinance" can assist me in my goal. Besides, studying at UCL, I can take advantage of its expertise in microeconomic policy with research centres such as Evaluation of Development Policy and Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy.

I treasure my academic learning so far as it has helped me grow as a well rounded person. Besides being an academic achiever and a university topper in my current undergraduate study, I have been actively involved in entrepreneurial and voluntary activities. My friends and I have been successful in coming out with an independent newsletter 'Aakaar' and spreading its circulation to five colleges in the city. I was also associated with NGO Udaan which worked towards value creation among the youth going through image-crisis. During my school time I was the only one who received Sahara National Cadet Corp scholarship for being an all rounder. Besides this, I have played handball at zonal and national level for my school and have been a winner at many sports meets.

I know it's quite long but would be really grateful, if one can go through the entire essay to give me feedback regarding the flow and relevance of the essay and also help me edit it!

Thanks
Riddi! :)

Graduate / 'college encounters with different people' - application [2]

I am applying for a graduate program where the application asks me, "What did you enjoy most in your undergraduate academic experience?*" to which my response :

"One thing that I enjoyed the most in my undergraduate academic experience was what I learnt through my off college encounters with different people talking myriad of topics on social networking websites and my past internships. Both of these experiences proved eye openers for me and exposed me to a new world where people talked and discussed about real topics. Some of the topics which really influenced me and changed entirely my reading list were the discussions on Libertarianism, objectivism and democracy and its importance in the Indian context. I was introduced to the writings of Henry Hazlitt, Fredric Bastiat, H.L Mencken to name a few which changed my perspectives on economics, freedom and individual rights."

Would like to know if it sounds contextual to the question asked and the scope for improving it.! Needs an honest critique!

Riddhi :)

Scholarship / 'a science dealing with increasing income or production' - scholarship economics [3]

I am applying for a scholarship where I need to answer how my proposed study of Economic policy or Development Economics benefit my home country India. I am writing down my reply, would be happy to get it edited asap.

"Economics when understood as a science dealing with increasing income or production of a country, often shortens our approach of comprehending the true meaning of economic development. Economic development of a nation should not only be proportional to its GDP and growth rate, but also with the accessibility of opportunities or options available to its people. India comprises within itself a success story of dichotomy. On one hand it has a rising middle class with an increasing disposable income in their hands, entrepreneurs making their mark on the international circuit becoming global leaders, increasing base of highly skilled people in the sector of information technology and on the other the sad performance of India in the United Nations' Human Development Index, nutritional indictors among the worst in the world, insurrection of Maoism in many of its districts. Besides these challenges India is troubled with its ever growing population which is now expected to overtake China's position as the world most populous country in the world. A huge population can act either as a boosting factor or an impediment to the growth of a nation depending upon what course of policy a nation choose to follow. If post independence the socialist policies in the country strangled its economic growth and with it every kind of opportunities available to its people, then the policy of liberalisation helped to overcome these lacunae in Indian economy. Likewise, if we fail to capitalise on the immense potential of our growing population by empowering them through strong educational and health infrastructure India might find itself caged forever in the vicious circle of poverty-illiteracy and unemployment caused by mismanaged economic policy. Economic policy plays a crucial role in modifying people's behaviour and thus economic outcomes.

As illustrated by Fredric Bastiat through fallacy of broken window, a good policy maker is the one who not just takes into account the immediate implication of a policy, but also its long term impacts. A quick overview of some of the health goals for example illustrates the need of better policy and planning. For example both National Population Policy 2000 and National Health policy 2002 have stated their goals for infant mortality rate (IMR) as 30 per 1000 live births to be achieved by 2010, but the current 2011 census records the infant mortality rate to be around 47.57 per 1000 live births. This points towards the gap between the desired and the expected, and the additional resources necessary to be invested to fill the gap. Through my proposed course of study I would like to understand better the way markets, institutions and public policy interact to pave path for economic growth in a country and also to understand the dynamics of targeting issues which involves such variables that are mutually dependent like the vicious circle of poverty-illiteracy and population. These issues are contextual to Indian scenario, where in some parts economic growth is not accompanied by equal opportunities for the people for example Haryana which is among the richest states in the country yet with the lowest sex ratio and on the other hand is kerela which despite doing very well on various social indicators still lacks much economic growth owing to the overregulated economic governance in the state.

"