![]() The Indian Economy and its ChallengesArindam Banerjee THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY IN THE 21ST CENTURY: UNDERSTANDING THE INHERENT DYNAMISM Edited by Ashima Goyal Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2014, pp. 1040, Rs. 2495.00 VOLUME XXXIX NUMBER 6 June 2015 Reconciling growth and development
has decidedly been an important challenge
for the Indian economy. Scholars
have appraised the economic reforms since
the nineties in a divergent fashion in the
wake of persisting backwardness and increasing
inequality. While some have held inadequate
reforms as the cause for this underdevelopment
despite high economic growth,
others have pointed out the skewed nature
of economic growth as the reason behind increasing
deprivation. No matter which side
of the dividing line one is located, it is not
possible to comment on the performance of
the economy without taking cognizance of
the structural poverty that remains conspicuous.
The concerns regarding meeting the development
targets have further intensified
with economic growth now slowing down
after 2010. In a globalized economy, the
determinants of growth and development are
also wide-ranging and demand a holistic
analysis to comprehend the present and future
trajectory of the economy. In that context,
The Oxford Handbook of The Indian
Economy in the 21st Century comes across as a
valuable contribution to understanding the
multifaceted dynamics of the economy.
With 33 articles on varying topics like
macro-economics, fiscal and monetary policy,
inflation, financial markets, sectoral analysis,
trade policy, poverty, social sector and
infrastructure organized in eight sections, the
book attempts to cover as many dimensions
of the economy as possible. The wide coverage
also makes it a useful resource for teaching
graduate and postgraduate students.
Nonetheless, the book is not without its
share of conflicting analyses and prescriptions
for the Indian economy. This is not unwelcome,
given the particularly complex issues
and the debates that exist with regard to
policies and objectives to be pursued. Enhancing
the richness of the analyses, even
while allowing for disagreements, is more
prudent than making straitjacketed policy
suggestions, which work for neither the
economy nor the people. With regard to the
perspectives of economic thought, nearly all
articles adhere to the neo-classical frame of
analyses, relying heavily on the efficiency of markets. Market failures are discussed largely
as a subsidiary phenomenon or a special case
within the economy. This somewhat cuts into
the richness of analysis primarily as large sections
of the population in the country are
unable to access markets on equal terms. In
this regard, some of the articles in the section
‘Inclusion, Equality and Opportunities’,
stand out in the book.
The dichotomy between supply-side and
demand-side constraints on the economy is
apparent from the articles that discuss ... Table of Contents >> |