-The Hindu The ‘development’ discourse serves the same purpose as the colonial apparatus but without the bad press. After 67 years of failing to eliminate deprivation in India, is it time to look for new ideas? The Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011, which hit the headlines earlier this month, tells us that half the households in rural India are landless, dependant on casual manual labour, and live in deprivation. By suggesting...

-The Telegraph In her recent book, Green Wars, the environmental journalist Bahar Dutt, writes: "The editor of a leading media house, everytime I pitched a green story, would invariably complain: ‘Environmentalism is stalling growth; all I am interested in is double-digit growth for this country.'" The idea that environmental protection and economic progress are at odds is widely held among India's elite. It is shared by newspaper editors, economists, businessmen, and, not...

-The Guardian International Monetary Fund paper dismisses rightwing argument that redistributing incomes is self-defeating   The International Monetary Fund has backed economists who argue that inequality is a drag on growth in a discussion paper that has also dismissed rightwing theories that efforts to redistribute incomes are self-defeating. The Washington-based organisation, which advises governments on sustainable growth, said countries with high levels of inequality suffered lower growth than nations that distributed incomes more evenly. Backing...

-The Business Standard Can Bhagwati-Sen debate bring the same change as Hayek-Keynes duel in the US in 1932 At a time of economic crisis, a distinguished group of economists wrote a letter to a major newspaper, making a case for increased government involvement in the economy. A few days later, an equally distinguished group of economists wrote a letter to the same newspaper, arguing against the first lot. No, this...

MANMOHAN SINGH AND ECONOMICS Sanjaya Baru’s article "The economist as saviour", an account of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economics could have juxtaposed specific issues of economic policy with Dr. Singh’s stance on them. Sanjaya Baru’s article “The economist as saviour” (editorial page, The Hindu, July 4, 2012), an account of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economics could have juxtaposed specific issues of economic policy with Dr. Singh’s stance on them. What we...