Archive · 30 Jan 2026
Economic Survey 2025-26 highlights delayed gratification
The Economic Survey 2025-26, written by the chief economic adviser and his team, talks about the idea of delayed gratification.
This means choosing to wait for a bigger reward instead of taking a smaller one right away.
The survey uses the example of the marshmallow test, where kids who waited for two marshmallows did better in life.
The survey says that both hard work and smart work are important, and that taking shortcuts can lead to problems.
It also warns about the dangers of short-term thinking and how it can hurt the economy and society.
The survey encourages people and organizations to accept delayed gratification as necessary for long-term success.
The Economic Survey 2025-26 emphasizes the concept of delayed gratification, using the marshmallow test as an example.
Children who waited for two marshmallows in the test were found to have better life outcomes.
The survey highlights the importance of hard work and smart work for long-term success.
Short-term thinking and impatience can lead to the decay of skills and institutions.
The survey encourages citizens and organizations to accept delayed gratification as an economic necessity.
- Who
- Chief Economic Adviser Venkatramanan Anantha Nageswaran and his team.
- What
- The Economic Survey 2025-26 emphasizes the concept of delayed gratification.
- When
- The Economic Survey was released on Thursday.
- Where
- The Economic Survey was presented in New Delhi, India.
- Why
- To highlight the importance of delayed gratification in achieving long-term economic and personal success.
- Marshmallow Test
- A social experiment where children could choose between one marshmallow immediately or two if they waited 15 minutes.
- Delayed Gratification
- The ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward and wait for a larger or more rewarding outcome.
- Economic Survey 2025-26
- A document outlining the state of the economy between two fiscal years, emphasizing the importance of delayed gratification.
- Chief Economic Adviser
- Venkatramanan Anantha Nageswaran, who authored the Economic Survey.
- Śreya and Preya
- Concepts from the Katha Upanishad representing enduring good and fleeting comfort, respectively.
- Hysteresis
- A term from physics used to describe how a system's history influences its current state.
- Chalta Hein
- A Hindi phrase meaning 'this is what it is, let it be'.