Amartya Sen’s political bias clouds his thinking
A healthy, even if somewhat furious, debate on what constitutes growth and whether growth should form the epicentre of economic decisions, is always welcome. It's more so when the clash is between titans like Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati, who hold diametrically opposite views on what the model of economic development for India should be. Mr Bhagwati, along with his colleague at Columbia University, Arvind Panagariya, have strongly favoured the growth-centric model, arguing that growth in GDP terms alone has the strength to change the country's socio-economic profile and tackle poverty. The two even authored an engaging book titled, Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the lessons for Other Developing Countries. Mr Sen provides the counter view, and in his recent book, An Uncertain Glory; India and its Contradictions, co-authored with Jean Dreze, he debunks the theory that growth is the panacea. So, more lung power to Messrs Bhagwati and Sen. But the recent standoff between the two eminent economists of international repute has to do with more than economics, and it has to be said that Mr Sen has triggered the confrontation by asserting his political inclinations in a context that did not call for his extreme remarks. In a recent interview, Mr Sen said that he would not like Mr Narendra Modi to be the Prime Minister of the country because of the Gujarat Chief Minister's record in handling minorities. Perhaps Mr Sen's publicists believe the author-economist did a smart thing; after all, what better way for him to promote his newly-released book than to invoke Mr Modi's name, whatever the context! By extension, therefore, Mr Sen naturally does not approve of the Gujarat model of economic development — never mind if the results are there for all to see and laud.That Mr Bhagwati has been “impressed by Modi's economics” must have weighed on the Nobel laureate's mind when he decided to run down the Gujarat Chief Minister.
Mr Sen seems to be following in the footsteps of Mr Modi's blinkered detractors who have been claiming that the development which Mr Modi is talking of is illusory, and that, if there has been some development it has been either hyped up or built upon an earlier development. He should be using more economic sense and not falling into the socialist trap that had ruined Indian economy before the latter was rescued in the early 1990s. It is strange that Mr Sen should find merit in the ‘Kerala experience'. The State's aversion to economic growth over the years has ensured that industries fled the State and unionism destroyed work ethics. This compulsorily led to state-driven growth which was both sluggish and insufficient. By contrast, Gujarat has offered people-driven growth, where efficient private entrepreneurship has flourished. Next, Mr Sen will be lauding West Bengal's recent history of ‘economic successes'!