Author: Gurcharan Das
My Rating: 1/5
Well, this book comes out to be a third volume of author's effort to explain and put forward the Indian economic System. The first book "India Unbound", which is also the best among the lot, covers the post-independence period ending just before the economic reforms of the nineties. The second book, "The Elephant Paradigm", covers the liberating decade of the nineties. The review of this one is available here.
This Book takes the story forward and discusses the happenings in the first decade of this 21st century and eventually the author makes a liberal case for a strong state. As compared to the earlier books, the intensity of writing and the ability to grasp the attention of the reader both have gone down drastically. The impressive writing style ubiquitous in "India Unbound" is certainly missing here.
Here Das discusses the Indian Model which is very unique given the versatile environmental parameters present here in India. He goes on to discuss the importance and history of rule of law in India. Moving on to the specifics of capitalism and the rise of middle-class in India, he brings forward a liberal case for India. Along with this he deals with the pervasive problems of corruption and the politics of aspiration in India. And finally some cliched prescriptions. Nothing innovative!
Also, in the process of writing the book, the author fluctuates in his belief and fundamentals regarding the importance of a strong state, which is admits himself. But that itself makes the assertions little less convincing. Nevertheless, if you have read the last two, you can go with this one.
Some good lines from the book...
"For our vibrant democracy, I give credit to Nehru, who laid its foundations. but India rose economically only after Nehru's over-regulating State stepped out of the way."
"India has law and China has order, but a successful nation needs both."
"Indian model is unique because it got democracy before capitalism, economic rise has been driven from below and by domestic demand rather than exports."
"Father and daughter had shackled the energies of the Indian people under a 'mixed' economy that combined the worst features of capitalism and socialism."
"In the holy name of socialism, the political masters and the senior policy making officials created dozens of controls, which in the end may have killed India's Industrial revolution."
"History shows, however, that it is difficult for a liberal free-market party to succeed in a modern democracy without a conservative social agenda."
My Rating: 1/5
Well, this book comes out to be a third volume of author's effort to explain and put forward the Indian economic System. The first book "India Unbound", which is also the best among the lot, covers the post-independence period ending just before the economic reforms of the nineties. The second book, "The Elephant Paradigm", covers the liberating decade of the nineties. The review of this one is available here.
This Book takes the story forward and discusses the happenings in the first decade of this 21st century and eventually the author makes a liberal case for a strong state. As compared to the earlier books, the intensity of writing and the ability to grasp the attention of the reader both have gone down drastically. The impressive writing style ubiquitous in "India Unbound" is certainly missing here.
Here Das discusses the Indian Model which is very unique given the versatile environmental parameters present here in India. He goes on to discuss the importance and history of rule of law in India. Moving on to the specifics of capitalism and the rise of middle-class in India, he brings forward a liberal case for India. Along with this he deals with the pervasive problems of corruption and the politics of aspiration in India. And finally some cliched prescriptions. Nothing innovative!
Also, in the process of writing the book, the author fluctuates in his belief and fundamentals regarding the importance of a strong state, which is admits himself. But that itself makes the assertions little less convincing. Nevertheless, if you have read the last two, you can go with this one.
Some good lines from the book...
"For our vibrant democracy, I give credit to Nehru, who laid its foundations. but India rose economically only after Nehru's over-regulating State stepped out of the way."
"India has law and China has order, but a successful nation needs both."
"Indian model is unique because it got democracy before capitalism, economic rise has been driven from below and by domestic demand rather than exports."
"Father and daughter had shackled the energies of the Indian people under a 'mixed' economy that combined the worst features of capitalism and socialism."
"In the holy name of socialism, the political masters and the senior policy making officials created dozens of controls, which in the end may have killed India's Industrial revolution."
"History shows, however, that it is difficult for a liberal free-market party to succeed in a modern democracy without a conservative social agenda."
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