Points to ponder

 The book, Tracking Globalization, edited by J S Sodhi, comes at a time when decision makers are at crossroads and the common man is frustrated by poor governance.

The book is based on seminars conducted during 2004-2010 by seven great economists on the themes of globalisation, development, justice and governance and contains enlightened papers by Jagdish Bhagwati, Meghnad Desai, Avinash Dixit, Edmund Phelps, Amartya Sen, Robert Skidelsky and Joseph Stiglitz.

The book contains economic theories and the authors’ views and forecasts on the impact of globalisation on the Indian economy. Jagdish Bhagwati of Columbia University starts his paper (2006) with “Globalisation attracts a lot of problems and India is still not ready for it.” He feels that while liberalisation is good for India, we cannot go the whole hog on liberalisation.

Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics, in his paper (2005), discusses three aspects of India’s economic and social structure: first, India is a democracy with universal adult franchise, second, the Indian social structure (caste system, superstitions and backwardness) has remained unchanged and untouched, and third, post- independence, there is a dependence on state initiatives for economic development.

According to him, India’s growth rate can definitely be improved by following policies developed indigenously. He also suggests that to overcome the demands of small political parties and the trap of competitive populism and redistributive politics, two large political parties, BJP and Congress, should have a temporary coalition to make India’s growth rate cross 6.5 per cent.

Avinash Dixit of Princeton University, in his paper (2009), touches upon economics, lawlessness and justice in India. He discusses the importance of economic governance, which means the structure and functioning of legal and social institutions are essential for economic activity and transactions to flourish. The security of property rights is essential if people have to acquire property. He argues that good protection of property enhances the productivity of labour. The author gives specific suggestions for achieving better governance through institutional and policy reforms.

Nobel Laureate Edmund Phelps of Columbia University, in his paper ‘Development with Justice’ (2008), argues that if a country is not innovative, then the only way it can develop is by improving its economic institutions and cultural attitudes. Economic justice requires not only justice towards disadvantaged workers, but also justice to everybody in the form of trading and nurturing a business economy that offers opportunities for mental stimulation, problem solving, intellectual development and creativity.

Prof Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate, in his paper (2004) titled ‘Development as Freedom: an Indian Perspective’, proceeds from the basic recognition that freedom is both the primary objective and the principal means of development. He argues that although the common belief is that democracy tends to slow down economic growth, there is no empirical evidence to support this belief. He also compares the experience of India with that of China.

Robert Skidelsky of the University of Warwick, in his address (2010) titled ‘The Crisis of Capitalism: Keynes versus Marx’, discusses the benefits of Keynes theory and the possibility of the return of Keynesianism as an aftermath of the financial crash. He wonders as to how many more crashes have to take place before ideas about the future of society takes a more sensible shape than those put forward by ‘market sentiments’.

Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University, in his paper (2007) titled ‘Making Globalization Work’, summarises a great deal about what the book says. According to him, if something is not working right, the problem has to be described, diagnosed, and the cause pinned down. He feels that globalization can be made to work much better and that it needs to be managed in a way that’s different from how it was managed  in the past.

The book is undoubtedly a valuable contribution to the analysis of globalization from the economists’ viewpoint and contains the thoughts of some of the best known current names in the world of economics. One word of caution though: it may not be attractive to the general reader.