Amartya Sen versus Bhagwati debate: Former's prescriptions are limited
The debate between Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati began with the identification of Bhagwati with growth and Sen with redistribution.
The debate between Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati began with the identification of Bhagwati with growth and Sen with redistribution. Later, most converged to the view that both sides value both instruments but with different emphases. But this is obfuscation.
Taking his latest book An Uncertain Glory, coauthored with Jean Dreze at face value, I accept that Sen recognizes the importance of growth for poverty alleviation. He writes, “Economic growth is indeed important, not for itself, but for what it allows a country to do with the resources that are generated, expanding both individual incomes and the public revenue that can be used to meet social commitments.” Rising incomes and revenues as a consequence of growth were the two themes that Bhagwati had expounded in his 12th Vikram Sarabhai Memorial Lecture delivered 26 years ago. Notwithstanding his claim to the contrary, in his latest book, Sen was far from assigning this role to growth in the fight against poverty.