EconoReal- Where Mind meets Market

  The Inflation Scam By: Rishita Arora The biggest buzz in the town lately has been the talk of ‘declining inflation’ , with India reportedly touching an all-time low rate of 0.25% which is barely a fraction of 1% . But this sparks an obvious question if inflation is so low, why does everything around us feel more expensive? From rising school fees to steeper cab fares, the reality of consumers paints a very different picture. So, is inflation actually down or is this the biggest economic illusion we’ve fallen for? The Actual Calculation All eyes widened when India’s CPI inflation rate was announced at just 0.25%, possibly the lowest ever recorded. However, this number doesn’t represent the true cost pressures faced by the average urban middle-class household. Over 55% of the Indian Population receives subsidized food grains through ration cards, and buys groceries for a price that is far below the government’s cost price. Likewise, 56% of the current enrollment in India ...

  The AI Bubble: Innovation and Inflation of Expectations By: Rishita Arora  The latest obsession inflating global markets is Artificial Intelligence. From multi-million business models to two person AI startups. Money is flowing into the sector faster than the markets can process. Corporations and Investors are racing alike to secure their place in what many are calling the 'AI gold rush’ . But behind this dazzling growth lies a critical economic question: is this a genuine transformative growth like the Dot-com bubble of the late 1990s that turned many internet dreams into multi billion dollar valuations or just another inflated bubble like the Tulip Mania of 1630s which saw the ordinary Tulip bulbs fetch prices higher than real estates?  The AI Rush of the 2020s With today’s dazzling surge in AI, NVIDIA’s valuations have skyrocketed . Even the traditional startups and companies are rebranding themselves with the ‘AI’ label to attract investors. Likewise, the venture ca...

The Economics of Dating Apps: Love in the Age of Algorithms By: Rishita Arora Forget candlelight dinners, coffee dates and cute encounters at bookstores, modern romance now lives on a 6-inch screen. Dating apps aren’t just connecting people, they’re recasting our thoughts about relationships, value, and choice in ways that sound more like economics than actual romance. Love isn’t just about chemistry and compatibility; it’s about swipes, supply, demand and even branding. With millions of profiles competing for attention, people are marketing themselves like products; polishing photos, bios, and interests the way firms curate ads. Here, matches are scarce resources, your time is currency, and attention has become the new gold standard Love as a Marketplace Economists have long studied matching markets, systems where people aren’t just buying products but searching for suitable partners, whether in jobs, colleges, or marriages. In these markets, systems where success isn’t about simply b...