Essays
Economics
8 essays on Economics.
The Financial Dominoes: Why One Default Rarely Stays One Default
A bank doesn't fail alone.
A bank doesn't fail alone. It fails into every balance sheet that was counting on it — and whether the damage stops at one domino or takes down the row depends on channels most people never see.
Surya · 7 min read
The Money Factory: How Banks Create Money Out of a Single Deposit
You deposit ₹1,000.
You deposit ₹1,000. The bank lends most of it out. That loan becomes someone else's deposit, and it happens again. Most of the money in the economy was never printed — it was lent into existence.
Surya · 6 min read
The Decisions That Never Stopped Billing
Some choices keep charging long after the purchase.
A forgotten $12 charge, and the businesses that were never trying to convince you twice — only to make sure you'd never revisit the decision.
Surya · 6 min read
The Base Rate Is Usually the Whole Answer
Before the story, ask what usually happens.
A test that's 99% accurate can still be wrong more often than it's right — because how rare the thing is matters more than how good the test is.
Surya · 2 min read
A Good Decision Can Still Lose
Good process and good outcome are not the same thing.
Judging a decision by how it turned out is the most natural mistake in decision-making — and it teaches you the wrong lesson from both your wins and your losses.
Surya · 3 min read
Opportunity Cost Is the Only Cost That Matters
Every yes quietly spends the best no.
The real cost of a choice was never on the receipt. It's the single best thing you didn't do instead — and most people never actually name what that was.
Surya · 3 min read
People Respond to Incentives, Not Instructions
People follow the scoreboard, not the slogan.
Tell someone to do the right thing and they might. Change what's measured and rewarded, and they will — every time, whether or not it's the outcome you actually wanted.
Surya · 3 min read
Sunk Costs Can't Answer the Question You're Asking
Money already spent cannot vote on what happens next.
Continuing a failing project because of how much you've already spent isn't loyalty or discipline. It's a mathematical error dressed up as one.
Surya · 3 min read