Why does it cost the government Rs 3 to raise Rs 1 in tax? Why does India spend only about 3 percent of its money at the local level, when China spends around 50 percent? And should governments be in the business of making soap and selling alcohol?

Abhinandan Sekhri talks to Sarthak Pradhan, co-author of Fiscal Fables: A Citizen’s Guide to Public Finance (with Pranay Kotasthane), about how the government earns and spends your money. The book explains public finance through stories, movies and pop culture, with no equations.

They cover taxes, GST, freebies, the Planning Commission, trade, and the cost of Delhi’s traffic and pollution. Whether you’ve read an economics book or not, this conversation is about your money.

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