Rana Hasan on Harnessing the Economic Potential of Indian Cities

Today my guest is Rana Hasan who is the Director, Centre for Economic Growth at NCAER and Senior Affiliate Scholar at the Mercatus Center. Prior to this he was the Regional Lead Economist at the Asian Development Bank.

We talked about how to classify and define a city, coordination problems in urban governance, their potential as engines of growth and employment, land use regulation, and how cities are the mother of all general equilibrium problems, and much more.

Recorded July 23rd, 2026.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Prefer to watch this episode, see the full length video here.

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:23 - Thinking Differently About Cities
00:13:15 - Fixing India's Land Use Regulation and Coordination
00:23:18 - Strategies for Nurturing Urban Growth
00:33:19 - The Mother of All General-Equilibrium Problems
00:38:41 - The Potential Benefits of Devolving Power to Local Governments
00:45:49 - Making India a Global Economic Player
00:49:38 - Balancing Security for Workers and Flexibility for Firms
00:58:29 - India's Missed Growth Opportunities
01:06:05 - Hurdles to Global Integration and Opportunities for Local Empowerment
01:12:46 - Outro