Make way for economists
A number of job avenues are available for the budding public economist, writes Meghna Agrawal
We seem to be living in struggling times. While there seems to be no threat to our national sovereignty, there is a large amount of internal dissatisfaction among the general public that closely resembles a silent struggle.
From buying petrol for daily transport to the price of milk for household consumption, most commodities have become more expensive and at the same time, salaries and incomes do not seem to be increasing to create affordability.
In such a scenario, when every trip to the market is becoming even more pinching, any public announcement about our GDP growth and our capabilities to withstand the crisis is taken with a pinch of salt. What is even more frustrating in these times is a general realisation that there is growing corruption everywhere around us, where the taxpayers’ hard-earned money seems to be lavishly wasted away on organising games and policies.
What happened to building new and improved hospitals and education organisations?
While it seems logical to question the intentions of our representatives and the bureaucrats, doubts are being cast on the capabilities of those involved in making and executing the policies. It’s amazing that poverty alleviation was an objective that stood out in the ‘Third Five-year Plan’, and today when we are moving to finish the course of the ‘Eleventh Five year plan’, the objective is still standing out.
There is a serious dearth of talent required in the public -policy making process. There are many lawyers in the system who perfect the legal language of the policy, there are many accountants who give the exact cost of a policy programme, but what about a public economist to predict the efficiency of the policy?
Public economics by definition is that branch of economics that deals with the functioning of the government and examines all its policies on the basis of its objectives and impact. Although the subject has its base in Public Finance, it also draws out elements from Political Sciences, Law, Philosophy, Welfare Theory as well as Public Administration and combines these elements to identify policies that are apt for the economic framework.
The scope of this subject is endless, though the foundation can very easily be laid down with a simple graduate course in economics. The study of public economics trains a person to analyse the entire functioning of the public sector.
On one hand, the student learns about optimal taxation, keeping the welfare of taxpayers in mind. On the other hand, he/she also learns about the right usage of tax revenue in allocation to various projects, whether it is education, health, poverty alleviation, infrastructure or other necessary projects which cannot be left at the mercy of the private sector. More importantly, students learn about the significance of efficient allocation to each project, where wastage of funds is kept to a minimum.
A number of avenues are available in our country for the budding public economist. The most inviting and probably the most effective avenue is to directly join the policy-making process with the central/state governments through the Indian Administrative Service, or its counterpart — Indian Revenue Services.
An equally promising option is to join the limited cadre of Indian Economic Services. The Ministry of Finance opens its arms for good policy-makers under its various departments, whether it is the Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Expenditure, Department of Revenue and many others. Given the state of the five-year plans, it would be a welcome change to have more students of public economics to join the Planning Commission of India.
Depending on interests and other subjects of choice, there are many other possibilities available for students. Students with a degree in Public Economics or Agriculture can join organisations like ICAR. Those interested in heath can join the Department of Health and Family Welfare and so on. There is a wide range of government departments, ministries and agencies that are probably losing face in the absence of good policymakers and are in need of a good public economist.
Those who are not interested in direct policy making and its execution have an option to join research institutions at various universities or independent ones such as the National Institute of Public Finance Policy to develop futuristic plans.
It is a fact that true development will not be attained unless capabilities are developed. And to develop our capabilities as a nation, we need to have a strong capable government. This capability can only be developed if the process of policymaking and its execution is taken more seriously and if young talent finds its moral duty in becoming an integral part of the decision-making process.
A BSc in Economics and Management, BSc in Economics and Finance for those aiming at the financial markets and the banking sector is the minimum requirement to work in this field.
Although these are yet to be made available in public universities, they are now available at foreign universities. To meet the growing demand for quality education, leading global educational institutions have set up centres in India. University of London, London School of Economics degrees can now be pursued at affiliate centre’ such as the Indian School of Business and Finance (www.isbf.edu.in).
(The author is a faculty member at the Indian School of Business and Finance, New Delhi.)
