India in the 1980s and 1990s: A Triumph of Reforms
[Substantially revised version of "India in the 1980s: Weak Reforms, Fragile Growth"] Bradford DeLong and Dani Rodrik have argued that reforms in India cannot be credited with higher growth because growth rate had crossed the 5 percent mark in the 1980s, well before the launch of the July 1991 reforms. This is wrong reading of the Indian experience for two reasons. First, liberalization was already under way during the 1980s and it played a crucial role in stimulating growth during that decade. Second, growth in the 1980s was fragile and unsustainable. The more systematic and systemic reforms of the 1990s, discussed in detail in this paper, gave rise to more sustainable growth. The paper concludes with a discussion of why the growth rate in India nevertheless continues to trail that of China.