Ep 82: Invisible Infrastructure

A policy that works in one country often cannot simply be transplanted onto another. The invisible infrastructure that is needed to make it work may not exist.

But what is this invisible infrastructure? Why is it invisible? Why do specialists often get it wrong? Why is everything everything?

Welcome to Episode 82 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Ajay elaborates on his frequent exhortation that before we talk about policy, we must consider the invisible infrastructure that will determine its success or failure.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:00 Packaging 00:13 Intro: Finding Life Lessons 01:22 Chapter 1: What is Invisible Infrastructure? 07:21 Chapter 2: A Concrete Example 11:56 Chapter 3: ‘Think of It as an API Call’ 18:53 Chapter 4: One Example – Privacy in India 26:06 Chapter 5: The New York Taxi Driver 29:57 Chapter 6: What is to be Done? 32:37 Chapter 7: Be Wary of Specialisation 41:18 Chapter 8: Everything is Everything 42:23 Chapter 9: Think About Incentives 45:05 Chapter 10: Think Locally 47:29 Chapter 11: Sometimes, We Should Do Nothing 52:39 Chapter 12: Focus on the Foundations 58:05 Chapter 13: An Idea For a Future Episode

For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.