Pro-market reforms and growth
The embrace of pro-market reforms by the Left Front government of West Bengal notwithstanding, anti-reform scholars continue to express skepticism towards them. Distinguished Princeton political scientist Atul Kohli has fired the latest shot on their behalf.
The anti-reform scholars hold that the Indian economy grew 6% per annum during the ‘80s and that the development strategy then was pro-business, not pro-market.
Abstract:
The embrace of pro-market reforms by the Left Front government of West Bengal notwithstanding, anti-reform scholars continue to express scepticism towards them. Distinguished Princeton political scientist Atul Kohli has fired the latest shot on their behalf in an article in the Economic & Political Weekly (April 1, 2006).
Virtually all sceptics rest their critique on a syllogism. Their first premise is that the shift in the growth rate to 6% took place a decade before the 1991 reforms. For example, Kohli opens with the assertion, “For the last quarter of a century, India’s economy has grown at an average rate of nearly 6% per annum.” The second premise of the critics is that the development strategy in the 1980s was “pro-business” rather than “pro-market”. Both premises are deeply flawed.
Virtually all sceptics rest their critique on a syllogism. Their first premise is that the shift in the growth rate to 6% took place a decade before the 1991 reforms. For example, Kohli opens with the assertion, “For the last quarter of a century, India’s economy has grown at an average rate of nearly 6% per annum.” The second premise of the critics is that the development strategy in the 1980s was “pro-business” rather than “pro-market”. Both premises are deeply flawed.