Book review

A lucid and brilliantly-argued book on India’s recent economic reforms

Nearly fifty years after independence, India remains a very poor country. It ranks near the bottom in terms of per capita income, and is similarly placed in the Human Development Index which measures social well-being. Economic growth in India has been less than half that of China or even other countries in Asia. And governments, at the Centre as well as in the states, are close to insolvency. The reason for our spectacular underachievement lies in the continuation of policies which had a certain validity as a response to the colonial experience, but which have long outlived their usefulness. The global economic scene has changed dramatically since they were formulated, and we must respond to the new realities.

Bimal Jalan, the well known economist and present Governor of the RBI, in this lucid and well-argued book, makes a case for governments doing what they alone can best do, and less of what they cannot do effectively.

‘One of the most lucid and lay-reader-accessible books to have been penned by an Indian economist.’
—Outlook

‘One cannot but agree with most of the suggestions made by Mr Jalan.’
—Economic Times

‘His book should be a useful guide for those who have been following the reforms process closely.’
—Business India

‘Jalan marshals a formidable array of facts to convey the general failure of the avowed mission of planning in India and the public sector’s abysmal failure in particular.’
—The Telegraph


About the author Governer of RBI