Rituraj Kapila (Director, Academic Foundation), Dr. Bimal Jalan (Member of Parliament and former Governor, RBI), Dr. C. Rangarajan (Chairman, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council), Dr. Surjit Bhalla (eminent economist and MD, Oxus Research and Investments) and the author Dr. Shankar Acharya at the book launch held on March 20, 2007 at the ITC Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi.

"Shankar Acharya stands out among Indian commentators for the clarity of his prose and the judiciousness of his judgements. He refuses to be swept away by undue enthusiasm for India's welcome improvement in economic performance. A long-time insider in the making of economic policy, Mr Acharya understands how limited the reforms have been, how far from outstanding economic performance remains and how much India needs to do if it is to achieve rapid, sustained and broadly shared increases in prosperity. The great enemy is complacency. Attentive readers will realise how little such complacency is justified and how much still needs to be done."

— Martin Wolf
associate editor and chief economics commentator,
Financial Times

“This superb collection of essays tells you why Dr. Acharya is India’s best policy Analyst. Like Martin Wolfe, Shankar Acharya is top of the class”. Each essay is a gem and a source of invaluable policy advice”.

— Vijay Kelkar
former finance secretary, Government of India

"This splendid, provocative and accessible collection of essays, by one of India's leading economists, should be of great interest to all those who rightly worry if India is truly shining."

— Deepak Lal
James S. Coleman Professor of International Development Studies,
University of California, Los Angeles

"Shankar Acharya is his usual, thoughtful self in these collected articles. He is not willing to be swept along in the unthinking wave of euphoria about India's economic performance, asks many of the right questions, and offers balanced judgement that points to what still needs to be done."

— T.N. Ninan
Editor, Business Standard

Can India grow without Bharat? Can we reap the “demographic dividend” of a young population? How should we revive industrial employment? Is the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act affordable? Why have reforms sputtered despite the “dream team”? How is growth so strong though reforms have stalled? How can populism be restrained? Can 8 % growth be sustained? Should we deploy forex reserves to build infrastructure? What must we do to renew our decaying cities? What is the solution to the coming water crisis? Who are India’s tax reformers? Can bilateral trade agreements substitute for the Doha Round? Should SAARC have a common currency? Is “fiscal responsibility” working? Does monetary policy work? Can we really aspire to China’s economic league---or is it all hype? How good is our foreign policy?

The eminent economist Shankar Acharya provides forthright and provocative answers to these key issues about India’s development.

Shankar Acharya is one of India’s leading policy economists. As Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (1993-2000) he was deeply involved in the economic reforms of the 1990s. He also served on the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and, more recently, as Member, Twelfth Finance Commission (2004). He has authored several books and numerous scholarly articles.

Currently he is Honorary Professor and Board Member of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). He also serves on the governing boards of other national research organizations (including NCAER and NIPFP) and various advisory bodies of Government, the Reserve Bank and some corporates. He writes regularly in the Business Standard and is consultant to international organizations. Dr. Acharya has a Ph.D from Harvard University and a B.A. from Oxford.

Preface

A. India: then and now

1. India’s economy: then and now

B. The employment challenge

2. Can India grow without Bharat?

3. Guaranteeing employment or fiscal crisis?

4. Reviving industrial employment

C. Reforms: on or off?

5. Why did India reform?

6. Reforms, may be but at what speed?

7. Bad ideas versus good men

8. Bad ideas are winning

9. Populism rides again

10. Economic policy: mid-term report

D. Economic growth

11. What’s happening in services?

12. Growth prospects: a reality check

13. Eight per cent growth forever?

E. Infrastructure problems

14. Foreign exchange for infrastructure, anyone?

15. A tale of three cities

16. India’s water troubles

F. Budget and tax policies

17. The good, the bad and the ugly

18. Tax policies for 2005

19. India’s tax reformers

20. The year of bad taxes

21. A curate’s egg

G. Foreign trade and payments

22. Wanted: a trade policy

23. The ABC of PTAs and FTAs

24. A common currency for SAARC?

25. A new BoP paradigm?

26. Global imbalances

H. Monetary and fiscal policies

27. Inflation and monetary policy

28. Farewell fiscal responsibility?

29. Fiscal deficit, what’s that?

I. Foreign affairs

30. Not in China’s league

31. China’s India strategy

32. Talking Turkey

33. Foreign policy: mid-term report

Sources