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India's Long Road: The Search for Prosperity
India has been the subject of many extravagant predictions and hopes. In this powerful and wide-ranging book, distinguished economist Vijay Joshi argues that the foundations of rapid, durable and inclusive economic growth in India are distinctly shaky. He lays out a penetrating analysis of the country’s recent faltering performance, set against the backdrop of its political economy, and charts the course it should follow to achieve widely shared prosperity.Joshi argues that for India to realize its huge potential, the relation among the state, the market and the private sector must be comprehensively realigned. Deeper liberalization is very necessary but far from sufficient. The state needs to perform much more effectively many core tasks that belong squarely in its domain. His radical reform model includes a fiscally affordable scheme to provide a regular ‘basic income’ for all citizens that would speedily abolish extreme poverty.An authoritative work of tremendous scope and depth, India’s Long Road is essential reading for anyone who wants to know where India is today, where it is headed, and what it should do to attain its ambitious goals.
432 pages, Hardcover
Published July 22, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 22, 2018
3.5/5 One of my friends is able to predict the killer in almost every whodunnit (murder mystery). I think I can safely predict what public policy books on India are going to say :)
a) Labour reforms are much needed. They protect people already employed in public-sector (and corporates maybe) at the cost of the vast majority looking for formal employment.
b) The govt focuses on inputs in education rather than outcomes (it does so for everything !). Teacher absenteeism is rampant and RTE has harmed education. We should switch to providing education vouchers, thereby giving poor parents the choice to switch to private schools. Ditto with health. And increase spending on public health.
c) Food/fuel/feritilizer subsidies are leaky and should be replaced by (technology-based) cash transfers. I think work is in good progress on this under the current NDA-2 govt.
d) Barriers to trade and investment should be lowered. Unncessary laws/rules should go.
e) There is massive corruption in land/real estate that is used for electoral finance and rent seeking/personal enrichment. Infact, try to remember any corporator/MLA who is not in the real estate business after joining politics.
f) Public-sector enterprises are used for political patronage and ... corruption (u guessed it!). The govt should exit businesses as much as possible and stick to regulation. One of our PM candidates said in 2013- "Minimum govt, maximum governance". Lets elect him in 2019 ;)
g) Police/legal reforms should be implemented. These are used by politicians and power-brokers for patronage, self-protection and rent-seeking. The govt should concentrate on doing its core functions well.
h) There needs to be a balance between environment protection and development. Leaning on any at the cost of the other will be problematic.
Finally, this was a good book recommended by other authors. Surprisingly, this was free of anecdotes and had a very no nonsense tone and yet was very readable. However, I think people from the commerce stream may understand and enjoy it more deeply.
a) Labour reforms are much needed. They protect people already employed in public-sector (and corporates maybe) at the cost of the vast majority looking for formal employment.
b) The govt focuses on inputs in education rather than outcomes (it does so for everything !). Teacher absenteeism is rampant and RTE has harmed education. We should switch to providing education vouchers, thereby giving poor parents the choice to switch to private schools. Ditto with health. And increase spending on public health.
c) Food/fuel/feritilizer subsidies are leaky and should be replaced by (technology-based) cash transfers. I think work is in good progress on this under the current NDA-2 govt.
d) Barriers to trade and investment should be lowered. Unncessary laws/rules should go.
e) There is massive corruption in land/real estate that is used for electoral finance and rent seeking/personal enrichment. Infact, try to remember any corporator/MLA who is not in the real estate business after joining politics.
f) Public-sector enterprises are used for political patronage and ... corruption (u guessed it!). The govt should exit businesses as much as possible and stick to regulation. One of our PM candidates said in 2013- "Minimum govt, maximum governance". Lets elect him in 2019 ;)
g) Police/legal reforms should be implemented. These are used by politicians and power-brokers for patronage, self-protection and rent-seeking. The govt should concentrate on doing its core functions well.
h) There needs to be a balance between environment protection and development. Leaning on any at the cost of the other will be problematic.
Finally, this was a good book recommended by other authors. Surprisingly, this was free of anecdotes and had a very no nonsense tone and yet was very readable. However, I think people from the commerce stream may understand and enjoy it more deeply.
June 5, 2020
Make no mistake, this text is an economic analysis. If you are looking for a social commentary on India, this isn't it. However, for what it sets out to do, the book is reasonably thorough, objective and highly focused. Though a reader doesn't need technical knowledge per se, a grasp of basic economics fundamentals would help tremendously in making it an enjoyable read.
Vijay did a great job of catching me up to speed on the intricacies of every major economic issue in India - from health and education, to monetary and external policies, and everything in between. I felt that his analysis was sound and his policy solutions well thought out. What I particularly liked was that though his policy suggestions were not particularly groundbreaking or innovative, he did not merely preach theoretical possibilities. Rather, he explored ways that they could practically be incorporated into existing systems and constraints faced by policymakers.
He also doesn't shy away from commenting on the Modi administration. One particularly interesting aspect of this read was that since it was written in 2016, one can now look up the progress that has been made in the past 4 years on policies and projects that Vijay comments on. The developments can be extremely telling, to say the least.
Perhaps the only shortcoming I felt was an over-reliance on aggregate statistics. This, however, could be in line with his overarching objective of providing a high-level, comprehensive picture. Further, he has made very thorough efforts to provide readers with quality sources that they can refer to for deeper analyses on specific issues.
Unfortunately, though Vijay's policy suggestions would almost undoubtedly do many great things for India, the core of nearly every highlighted issue is institutional decay, rampant corruption and a seeming lack of enthusiasm for the sort of long-term thinking that could genuinely and radically uplift the Indian economy and the lives of its people. Economic policy can take years to enact but flushing out this level of corruption would, even optimistically, take decades... and even then only with some source of fresh energy that provides an impetus to convincingly clean the polity. Ultimately, India's search for prosperity depends on the coming of such a political purge (and nothing less) at all levels.
Vijay did a great job of catching me up to speed on the intricacies of every major economic issue in India - from health and education, to monetary and external policies, and everything in between. I felt that his analysis was sound and his policy solutions well thought out. What I particularly liked was that though his policy suggestions were not particularly groundbreaking or innovative, he did not merely preach theoretical possibilities. Rather, he explored ways that they could practically be incorporated into existing systems and constraints faced by policymakers.
He also doesn't shy away from commenting on the Modi administration. One particularly interesting aspect of this read was that since it was written in 2016, one can now look up the progress that has been made in the past 4 years on policies and projects that Vijay comments on. The developments can be extremely telling, to say the least.
Perhaps the only shortcoming I felt was an over-reliance on aggregate statistics. This, however, could be in line with his overarching objective of providing a high-level, comprehensive picture. Further, he has made very thorough efforts to provide readers with quality sources that they can refer to for deeper analyses on specific issues.
Unfortunately, though Vijay's policy suggestions would almost undoubtedly do many great things for India, the core of nearly every highlighted issue is institutional decay, rampant corruption and a seeming lack of enthusiasm for the sort of long-term thinking that could genuinely and radically uplift the Indian economy and the lives of its people. Economic policy can take years to enact but flushing out this level of corruption would, even optimistically, take decades... and even then only with some source of fresh energy that provides an impetus to convincingly clean the polity. Ultimately, India's search for prosperity depends on the coming of such a political purge (and nothing less) at all levels.
November 2, 2016
India's long road : The search for prosperity has been written by Vijay Joshi who is an emeritus fellow at Merton college, Oxford. He has already penned two books on the engaging subject of Indian Economy.
This book is a comprehensive account of evolution of post-indian economy and shortcomings and limitations that need to be done away with, for what author describes as achieving prosperity for India. The author first gives an account of performance of Indian Economy in post-independence era, which he describes as below potential performance. Then he draws some speculative growth rates which can bring India into the bracket of high income countries of the present.
In this vein author describes that it has been overwhelmingly large space occupied by state which has not only hindered growth of private sector but also competition and public choice. In the chapter 'ends and means' he brings forth some ends eg- rapid and inclusive growth, sustainable growth, high employment rates etc. In this he then gives the roadmap or 'means' to achieve these ends. He also puts forth some plausible disadvantadges like liberal democracy but indicates that these are good in long run. While pointing out the state failure in some areas like competition and underutilization of resources, he strongly pitches for wider scope for market forces. However, he indicates that there are certain areas like macroeconomic policy, law and order, external security where state has to stay.
He also raises his concern over declining capital investment and private and household savings.
For reaping advantage of demographic dividend he proposes for skill development, development of labour intensive industry and reform in labour laws. In the succeding chapter he very neatly explains the conundrum of organized and unorganized sector of industries.
In the chapter 'productivity and economic reform' he points out low productivity in various areas of economy eg- coal, labour, agriculture, and electricity for which he accounts reasons as subsidies, price controls etc. He further brings out a brainstorming discussion on macroeconomic issues like inflation, monetary policy, capital account convertibility which is not only engaging but alsoinformative for people who are interested in knowing indian economy.
While writing about education he puts forth studies of PISA and argues about poor quality of education in government schools despite high per child expenditure in these schools. Writing about health he indicates that India should focus on traditional health products besides going for secondary and tertiary health provisions.
Further he points out that now there has been a flurry of legislations which entitles people for various services eg RTI, RTEA, PSDA, FSA etc. Here he suggests that before entitling people we should improve our service delivery mechanism otherwise these rights will be on paper only.
In Chapter 'India and World' he writes that india has decent level of forex reserves, remittances and exports of services, however he points out limitations in export of industrial output for which he suggests some remedies to improve on. Further he strongly pitches for 'deep fiscal adjustment'.
He argues for abolition of subsidies and price controls rather he hints at Direct Benefit Transfer. He also hints at revamping the dormant agriculture. For this he has high hopes from present Modi government. He has acclaimed performance of government in some areas but has criticised government for not taking radical reforms in financial market, agriculture and not reducing subsidies.
Vijay joshi has supported liberal market policies and strongly recommends huge space for market. Yet he argues for provision of pure public goods by government. Though in some places he uses a few economic and fincancial phrases but he explains them in-Situ therefore book is good read even for those who do not have economics background.
Its a must read book.
This book is a comprehensive account of evolution of post-indian economy and shortcomings and limitations that need to be done away with, for what author describes as achieving prosperity for India. The author first gives an account of performance of Indian Economy in post-independence era, which he describes as below potential performance. Then he draws some speculative growth rates which can bring India into the bracket of high income countries of the present.
In this vein author describes that it has been overwhelmingly large space occupied by state which has not only hindered growth of private sector but also competition and public choice. In the chapter 'ends and means' he brings forth some ends eg- rapid and inclusive growth, sustainable growth, high employment rates etc. In this he then gives the roadmap or 'means' to achieve these ends. He also puts forth some plausible disadvantadges like liberal democracy but indicates that these are good in long run. While pointing out the state failure in some areas like competition and underutilization of resources, he strongly pitches for wider scope for market forces. However, he indicates that there are certain areas like macroeconomic policy, law and order, external security where state has to stay.
He also raises his concern over declining capital investment and private and household savings.
For reaping advantage of demographic dividend he proposes for skill development, development of labour intensive industry and reform in labour laws. In the succeding chapter he very neatly explains the conundrum of organized and unorganized sector of industries.
In the chapter 'productivity and economic reform' he points out low productivity in various areas of economy eg- coal, labour, agriculture, and electricity for which he accounts reasons as subsidies, price controls etc. He further brings out a brainstorming discussion on macroeconomic issues like inflation, monetary policy, capital account convertibility which is not only engaging but alsoinformative for people who are interested in knowing indian economy.
While writing about education he puts forth studies of PISA and argues about poor quality of education in government schools despite high per child expenditure in these schools. Writing about health he indicates that India should focus on traditional health products besides going for secondary and tertiary health provisions.
Further he points out that now there has been a flurry of legislations which entitles people for various services eg RTI, RTEA, PSDA, FSA etc. Here he suggests that before entitling people we should improve our service delivery mechanism otherwise these rights will be on paper only.
In Chapter 'India and World' he writes that india has decent level of forex reserves, remittances and exports of services, however he points out limitations in export of industrial output for which he suggests some remedies to improve on. Further he strongly pitches for 'deep fiscal adjustment'.
He argues for abolition of subsidies and price controls rather he hints at Direct Benefit Transfer. He also hints at revamping the dormant agriculture. For this he has high hopes from present Modi government. He has acclaimed performance of government in some areas but has criticised government for not taking radical reforms in financial market, agriculture and not reducing subsidies.
Vijay joshi has supported liberal market policies and strongly recommends huge space for market. Yet he argues for provision of pure public goods by government. Though in some places he uses a few economic and fincancial phrases but he explains them in-Situ therefore book is good read even for those who do not have economics background.
Its a must read book.
October 10, 2016
Academic, Boring, Economic Skeptics, but overall a good overview on what ails Indian economy
May 8, 2017
A very very nice portray of the economic scenario of present day india and plausible solutions to counter the inefficiencies. Although loaded with technical economic jargons, it is lucid enough and worth giving a try.
However, its analysis of the performance of the Modi Govt. is very illogical and bad. And many of the solutions offered are too ideological but not very relevant to the everyday routine and political scenario.
But as a whole, it helps to gain knowledge about policies and impacts.
However, its analysis of the performance of the Modi Govt. is very illogical and bad. And many of the solutions offered are too ideological but not very relevant to the everyday routine and political scenario.
But as a whole, it helps to gain knowledge about policies and impacts.
January 28, 2018
Contemporary Indian economic history + overview of ills plaguing Indian political economy. I picked up this book because I wanted to know more about India and its place in the world. Not really the most interesting place to start but it is meticulously researched.
January 30, 2018
A brilliant book that ably puts the tools of economic analysis to work. The author knows his subject matter inside out. Probably the most authoritative text I have read on any emerging market economy. Took a while (blame Kindle reading), but this is so recommended
December 5, 2020
The author is well-versed with the inner machinations of the Indian state, and its political economy. His book reflects the same with its surprising breadth of topics - the depth is lacking beyond a point, since it would be impossible to fit all issues into a readable document.
December 30, 2017
If you are interested in economics, and want to know what can be done to make Indian people more prosperous, this book cannot be missed.
January 29, 2020
60% illuminating, 40% hypnotic.
Tread with caution.
Tread with caution.
January 26, 2018
The Chapter 'Ends and Means, State and Market' is well written piece which elucidates the 'textbook' Economic Concepts very well by providing good examples and logic. It will be very refreshing for those who have studied economics with interest.
Some may see the book largely biased towards free market economics - but hey! that is how it is !! Certainly not for Absolute Leftists !!
Some may see the book largely biased towards free market economics - but hey! that is how it is !! Certainly not for Absolute Leftists !!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews