My work has influenced several debates and controversies in Indian economic history, on state, artisans, gender, agriculture, and business history. And it gives shape to two big ideas in comparative development:

(1) The economic impact of colonialism cannot be understood by assuming the intention or aim of the empires (there was none we can define properly), and instead needs to be understood as an interaction between politics, geography, and market processes; and (2) the economic history of the tropical monsoon regions needs to pay close attention to the tropical monsoon climate.

The new books below, except Monsoon Economies, do not directly address the agenda. The second edition of Global Economic History (Bloomsbury 2024, co-edited with Giorgio Riello, eminent historian) is the product of a collaboration of scholars who share the view that the field needs a reference for the classroom. Law and the Economy (Harper Collins 2024, co-written with friend and co-author Anand Swamy) is the publication of two books from Chicago University Press, with a new introduction. Kerala is the first book in a series called "The Economic Histories of Indian States" (Cambridge University Press 2024, co-written with friend, historian, and an authority on Kerala, K. Ravi Raman). Monsoon Economies (MIT Press 2022; a new version republished by Penguin India 2024) shapes the idea that climate matters and shows how it matters.