Growth, Sustainability, and India's Economic Reforms

by T.N. Srinivasan

This book analyses the origins, rationale, and outcomes of India's economic reforms of 1991 in the context of changes in economy, polity, and society. Using a historical and comparative perspective, the book provides a comprehensive review of the policies and performance of the Indian economy.

The author categorizes India's development experience into four time periods and provides a comparative analysis across these: (i) 1950-80: conservative macroeconomic policies, slow growth, and a crisis in 1966; (ii) 1980s: piecemeal reforms, fiscal profligacy, accumulation of domestic and external private debt and faster growth, and the crisis of 1991; (iii) 1991-2009: systemic reforms and growth acceleration; and (iv) 2009-11: the global financial crisis. He also compares the Indian experience with the growth and development strategies of China and certain low-income countries. Drawing lessons from economic theory to understand the policy problems faced by India, the book examines the implications of the recent global financial crisis on growth, sustainability, and the necessity for further reform. The intrinsic objective of India's development-the eradication of mass poverty-and the instruments for achieving it such as acceleration of growth, industrialization, accumulation of physical and human capital, and improvement in productivity are highlighted.

120 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2011

Reviews

[Palash Bansal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read the introduction, the reader would get the impression that the author would be discussing the essential process of eradication of poverty, suggesting ways and means to do it. But as it turned out, the focus was basically on how India should go about increasing its growth figure. The basic premise that the pro-liberalization economists make, is that eradication of poverty will come as a consequence of growth. But study of India is a fundamental example of how this premise is faulty. With the onset of economic reforms the major chunk of the so-called enhanced wealth has gone into the hands of a selected few while the majority of people hardly can boast about India's booming economy.
Being a colleague of Dr. Manmohan Singh, the author ought to give positive feedbacks about the reforms, and he has indeed done so, unconvincingly though. The details about how the process of economic reforms took place in the country is informative, but one shouldn't expect any radical solution from the author in this book.
The debate between pro and anti liberalization goes on, and this book certainly provides some points worth noting but is silent on various elementary survival problems faced by many people due to the reforms proposed.
One thing that really clung to me after reading this is the fact that politics and economics of a country are intricately related to each other and are indeed inseparable.