Forecasting by bureaucrats tends to be used for anxiety relief rather than for adequate policy making.
I cannot say that I entered the presidency with any deliberately planned and far-reaching scheme of social betterment.
I don't think policy makers surprise unnecessarily. You don't pick surprise as a part of your policy. Markets value a certain amount of predictability. But there are certain areas where surprise is a tool.
Utahns deserve well thought out policy and plans.
I see myself as more of a policy maker than a political leader.
Based on history, many presidents come into office with lots of plans, and an agenda and things they want to start and an order in which they want to do those things.
Policy is driven by more than politics, however. It is equally driven by ideas.
A major institutional reform is the move away from merely planning, to transforming India. The setting up of NITI Aayog, is a step in this direction.
I often say Policy Planning is very analogous to a venture capital firm. A venture capital firm sees an interesting idea and puts money behind it; in Policy Planning, we look for promising ideas and then put contacts and relationships behind it.
Jobs have to be created on the ground, one at a time. This requires detailed plans and specific policies.
It is impossible for the nation to develop unless states develop, the process of policy planning also has to change from 'top to bottom' to 'bottom to top
