Literary Insights

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The book is a collection of reflections by Kaushik Basu on his time as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Indian government from 2009 to 2012.
It blends economic theory with insights from Basu’s experience in policymaking to discuss important issues facing the Indian economy like growth, inflation, fiscal policies, poverty, food security etc.
A key theme is that economic policymaking is like engineering but with additional complexity as policies must consider how people think and political realities. Effective policies require understanding the intersection of economics, politics and society.
Basu’s transition from academia to policymaking was difficult as he initially focused more on logic and reasoning rather than impact. But it gave him a unique outsider’s perspective on India’s norms and culture.
The book aims to weave in the importance of social, behavioral and institutional foundations for economic development. It also strives to place a strong emphasis on analytical reasoning despite calling for better empirical work.
Basu delivered the initial draft as lectures at Brown University in 2012 which formed the basis for this book drawing on his experiences in the Indian government and the World Bank.
The author kept a diary during their over two and a half years serving in the Indian government, writing 2-3 times per week. They found it enjoyable and therapeutic.
After leaving government to join the World Bank, they continued diary writing more occasionally as mnemonics.
Their Delhi diary is too recent to publish due to ethical issues publishing verbatim accounts so soon after an insider role.
The bulk of work on this book occurred during their Delhi time, producing notes for the Finance Minister and PM. They worked harder than bureaucrats on these documents.
The most productive writing happened in summer 2012 in Ithaca, NY after leaving Delhi before starting at the World Bank. They found peace writing all day at Cornell University.
In Washington D.C., overwhelming work meant sporadic writing on weekends. They took leave in 2014 to complete the project.
India saw political changes between starting and completing the book, with a new BJP government. The author met PM Modi upon returning to Delhi in 2014.
The author drew on past research, policy experience, and views to complete the book as a user’s manual for developing economies.
The author acknowledges significant support and influences throughout the writing process from Indian leaders, academics, and editors.
Raisina Hill in Delhi used to be an unremarkable area consisting of small villages, but was transformed when the British decided to build the Viceregal Lodge (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) atop the hill in the early 1900s.
Architects Lutyens and Baker built the main government office buildings on the eastern slopes of Raisina Hill, including the offices of the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, and other key ministries like External Affairs and Defense.
The massive buildings in red and cream sandstone were meant to project the power and authority of the colonial government, just as earlier Mughal forts and palaces had done.
After Indian independence, the new government located its offices in the same buildings constructed by the British, owing to their symbolic power and the beliefs they bolstered about governmental authority.
The passage then shifts to describing the author’s personal experience taking up the role of Chief Economic Advisor to the Indian government in 2009, including his initial culture shock and adjustment to the new setting and bureaucratic norms.
India faced major economic challenges in the late 20th century, with periods of stagnation and crisis, before economic takeoff beginning in the 1990s.
To provide context, the author briefly discusses the history of Indian economic thought and experience leading up to modern times. This is meant to introduce the backdrop for current challenges, despite not being essential to addressing today’s policy problems.
In the 1980s, the author spent significant time at the renowned Delhi School of Economics. The institution was intellectually outstanding and had little hierarchy.
Within the school, the Coffee House was a significant gathering place. It was run-down but had good coffee and food (even briefly experimenting with sandwiches). It became known for constant intellectual discussion and debate among faculty and students throughout the day.

So in summary, the author outlines India’s economic trajectory, values providing historical context, and discusses the intellectually vibrant environment of the Delhi School of Economics and its influential Coffee House in the 1980s.

The Coffee House at Delhi School of Economics was a hub of intellectual discussion and debate in the 1980s-early 1990s. It brought together students, academics, politicians, economists with diverse ideological views.
In the Coffee House discussions of that time, no one envisioned India becoming a fast-growing economy in the future. They took pride in India’s democracy and openness but accepted its economic closedness and barriers to trade/FDI.
By the late 1980s, India was building large fiscal deficits and debt. The 1991 Gulf War crisis plunged it into an economic crisis. This created an opening for economic reforms led by a few key individuals influenced by new economic ideas.
The 1991 reforms triggered high growth of around 7% annually from 1994 onward. Foreign reserves and growth rates increased substantially in the following decades, indicating a major shift in India’s economic performance and potential.
To understand India’s economic development, one must examine the early ideas and philosophies of influential figures like Gandhi and Nehru, and the lingering inconsistencies between their approaches, which shaped India’s post-independence policies.
The passage discusses the economic visions and policies of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi after India’s independence in 1947.
It notes that while Gandhi admired Nehru, their economic views differed, with Nehru drawn more to socialism and industrialization while Gandhi emphasized small villages and handicrafts.
Under Nehru, India adopted a mixed model combining elements of socialism, capitalism, and Gandhian ideas. However, the contradictory policies led to inefficiencies and slow growth.
After Nehru, Indira Gandhi pursued Nehru-style socialism initially but shifted under the influence of her sons towards some early liberalization in the 1980s.
Significant reforms towards a more open economy did not occur until 1991 under PM Narasimha Rao and FM Manmohan Singh, seizing a policy window amid economic crisis.
The Indian economy grew slowly, around 3.5% annually, until accelerating in the late 1970s but then remaining stuck at that “Hindu rate of growth” until the major reforms of 1991.
The passage discusses India’s growth trajectory from the 1970s to present day, referencing Table 2.1 which shows annual GDP growth rates and investment rates over this period.
In 1975-1976 India saw record GDP growth of 9% which some debated was due to the dramatic political events of 1975 including the Emergency declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. However, growth fell sharply after this spike.
The Emergency period from 1975-1977 saw civil liberties suspended and opposition leaders arrested. Some attribute the brief growth spike during this time to increased efficiency under authoritarian rule. However, growth quickly declined after.
1979-1980 saw India’s GDP shrink by 5.2%, the worst annual growth performance since independence. Growth remained volatile through the 1970s-1980s before stabilizing above 5% annually in the 1980s.
The fluctuations in India’s growth were in line with other emerging countries but government economic policy tended to be cautious, aimed at stability over risks. Table 2.1 provides historical context on GDP growth and investment trends.
India generally saw steady but modest economic growth under political institutions that avoided major gambles or policies that could lead to large fluctuations. In contrast, China experienced much more volatile growth under Mao’s rule due to policies like the Great Leap Forward.
India’s growth slowed in the late 1970s during political instability after Indira Gandhi declared emergency rule. She then lost the 1977 election.
Morarji Desai became Prime Minister leading a unstable coalition. Efforts to rapidly reverse economic policies hurt growth.
Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980 and pursued more market-friendly reforms, stabilizing growth.
Her son Rajiv Gandhi succeeded her after her 1984 assassination and oversaw continued economic reforms and growth in the 1980s.
The 1991 Gulf War disrupted remittances from Indian workers, contributing to a balance of payments crisis. Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh pursued extensive economic reforms in response to crisis.

So in summary, it contrasts India’s generally steady growth to China’s more volatile growth under Mao, and outlines the political changes and economic reforms in India from the 1970s-1990s that helped shift to higher growth.

In 1991, India was facing a severe economic crisis, with very low foreign exchange reserves of only enough for 13 days of imports. It had no choice but to turn to the IMF for funds.
The new government enacted sweeping economic reforms, the likes of which had never been seen before. This included removing the notorious system of licensing that had stifled industry. They also eased restrictions on foreign exchange transactions and lowered import tariffs.
The reforms had a dramatic impact. Foreign exchange reserves rose exponentially from about $5 billion in 1991 to over $300 billion in 2008. GDP growth rose to about 7% annually in the mid-1990s. Manufacturing and IT sectors grew significantly.
However, in 1997-98, India was impacted by the Asian Financial Crisis even though not directly involved. Growth dropped to 4.8%.
From 2003 onward, growth surged again due to momentum from earlier reforms combined with other changes. India joined the ranks of the fastest growing economies. Savings and investment rates, key drivers of growth, also increased.

The passage discusses India’s rising savings rate story over time. In the 1960s-1970s, India’s savings rate was around 10%, which was seen as too low compared to East Asian nations saving over 30%. However, this started changing in the late 1960s-1970s as the government created avenues for people to save, like the Unit Trust of India mutual fund (UTI) in 1964 and expanding bank branches after nationalizing banks in 1969. This helped boost India’s savings rate to over 20% by the late 1970s.

The savings rate remained around this level until 2000, when it began rising again and crossed 30% by 2003, bringing India more in line with Asian savings norms. This second rise is not fully understood but was likely due to faster economic growth and fiscal consolidation by the government. Rising savings and investment rates provided further fuel for India’s economic growth.

Other geopolitical factors also aligned favorably for India around this time, like improved relations with the US who saw India as a counterbalance to China’s rise. Outsourcing debates in the US also inadvertently boosted outsourcing to India. These forces helped India’s growth climb after 2003, with over 9% annual growth for 3 years, further increasing savings, investment, and reducing poverty. This firmly established India’s narrative as a rising economic power.

The passage describes the global financial crisis that began in 2007-2008 with the subprime mortgage crisis in the US and spread worldwide as the US economy slowed.
It explains how the crisis originated from risky home loans to subprime borrowers that defaulted, causing housing prices and bank balance sheets to deteriorate. This credit crunch slowed the US and global economies.
While India’s growth also declined due to the global recession, it avoided a domestic subprime crisis. This was partly due to the Reserve Bank of India’s cautious actions, but also because much of India’s real estate market involves untraced cash transactions, preventing major bank exposure.
The crisis bottomed out in 2009-2010 with fiscal stimulus returning India to high growth. However, more problems emerged in 2011, both from global headwinds and domestic corruption scandals that weakened the Indian government.

So in summary, the passage traces the origins and global spread of the financial crisis, while noting how India was less severely impacted initially due to domestic real estate market conditions, though new challenges arose in 2011.

Corruption in India had become a major issue, with activist Anna Hazare leading movements to increase transparency. While difficult to measure the total level of corruption, its large magnitude was damaging society.
Increased scrutiny of corruption made bureaucrats cautious in decision-making, slowing reforms. Coalition politics also stalled reforms in 2012.
Domestic factors like monetary tightening by RBI to control inflation and a large fiscal deficit slowing private borrowing and investment also affected growth.
However, the largest contributing factor was the economic slowdown in Europe starting in 2011. As India’s second largest trading partner, Europe’s recession significantly impacted India’s exports and growth. Financial market uncertainty from troubled European banks also affected India.
As a result, India’s growth slowed to 6.7% in 2011-2012 and around 5% in 2012-2013, the slowest in 9 years. The future trajectory was expected to remain challenging due to global headwinds, but India’s structural strengths would help it ride out short-term issues and growth would pick up in the medium term.
There was popular expectation that a new BJP-led government after 2014 elections could boost reforms and the economy, but global factors would also influence India’s growth trajectory in the short-run. Sustained recovery would require skillful policy efforts.
Experts have an incomplete understanding of complex economic issues like monetary and fiscal policies, and inflation in particular. Rules of thumb and trial and error are often used.
Inflation immediately affects everyone through rising prices, making it a major concern for politicians and governments. People do not understand where inflation comes from.
Deflation also poses challenges for understanding and policy responses, as seen in Eurozone and Japan.
While relative price changes can often be explained, inflation refers to a sustained, broad-based rise in prices across the board. The causes and best solutions for inflation remain uncertain even among experts.
Economists have data and stylized facts about inflation behavior but their tools are ultimately rules of thumb. True comprehension of inflation remains elusive. Humility is needed given the limitations in knowledge.

The key point is that while experts study inflation closely, their understanding remains incomplete and policies are often based more on trial and error than full comprehension of causes and solutions. Inflation control remains a challenge even for economists.

The scientific community still has much to understand about inflation. Its origins are not fully known, making it an exciting area of research.
India experienced high inflation between late 2009 and early 2014, ranging from 7-11% annually. This followed periods of low inflation.
There is widespread misunderstanding of inflation among the public. Many see it as something directly controlled by the government or caused by greedy businesses. However, shopkeepers always try to raise prices, so that cannot fully explain changing inflation rates.
Understanding inflation requires analyzing specific country contexts like India, not just relying on models from developed nations. Country experiences with inflation differ based on economic development level.
India’s recent high inflation was still below hyperinflation levels seen in places like Germany in the 1920s and Hungary after WWII. Brazil offers lessons on how very high inflation impacts growth. Asian countries generally saw more price stability than Latin America.
More research is needed to better understand inflation in emerging markets like India and how policy interventions have global impacts in today’s connected world economy. Both theory and policy experiments from different places are important to advance knowledge.
In the 1980s, interest rate hikes and fiscal tightening measures brought inflation down in many countries and eventually restored strong economic growth.
Experience over the past few decades has taught us more about inflation but also that its drivers can change over time, requiring new research and policy approaches.
Central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve previously controlled inflation by buying and selling government bonds to absorb or inject money into the economy. However, the rise of “near monies” like bonds has limited this approach.
Independent research is needed in each country as inflation dynamics can vary. Emerging economies sometimes face changing inflation characteristics requiring new ideas in addition to resolve on price stability.
Policymakers must consider challenges like measuring representative inflation, potential conflicts of interest, changes in volatility and divergence between food and non-food prices over time.
India’s economy has become more resilient, with food prices no longer the main driver of overall inflation as in the past, affecting policy emphasis on macro demand management over supply issues alone.
India’s financial inclusion policy aims to bring over 40% of rural households into the formal banking system. Currently, much of rural savings are kept as cash at home due to lack of access to banks.
As more people open bank accounts and deposit their savings, it effectively increases the money supply even if the RBI doesn’t print more money. This is because money that was previously “idle” is now entering circulation.
This injection of money into the system can cause inflationary pressure. However, financial inclusion also has benefits and shouldn’t be abandoned for this reason alone.
The government and RBI have some policy levers to control inflation, like temporary income taxes to redistribute demand over time. But the relationship between monetary policy tools like interest rates and inflation is complex with many external factors influencing outcomes.
Inflation management requires a combination of scientific knowledge as well as experimentation, not just following set formulas. Raising rates may paradoxically increase liquidity and credit in some situations if there was an initial shortage constraining demand.

So in summary, it recognizes the inflation risk of financial inclusion while arguing this shouldn’t stop it, and analyzes the challenges of using monetary policy to control inflation given the various external influences.

Ward sloping refers to the empirical finding that raising interest rates may have a weak effect on inflation or even a reverse effect by reducing liquidity in certain economic contexts.
This challenges the traditional view that higher interest rates reduce inflation and has policy implications - central banks may need to use other tools besides interest rates to control inflation.
There is a theoretical debate around the concepts of money, liquidity, and credit. Simply increasing bank lending does not necessarily increase liquidity if it just changes asset portfolios rather than total assets.
An economy’s money supply being divided into many denominations, like notes of different values, increases liquidity more than just the total money amount. Having only one large banknote for a whole nation would reduce liquidity.
Interest rate policy needs to be informed by empirical analysis of the economic conditions, like whether there is excess demand for credit, to know if interest hikes will work to reduce inflation. Theory alone does not determine appropriate policy.
Unconventional policies like Turkey lowering rates despite high inflation add to the evidence that textbooks may not capture real-world complexities and alternative policies should be considered empirically.
Benefits for the poor, like employment programs or loan waivers, are argued by some to increase food demand and inflation, though higher consumption by the poor is not necessarily observed - higher incomes could still bid up prices in a supply-constrained market without changing consumption levels. More empirical evidence is needed.
Poverty in India declined significantly from around 37% in 2004 to approximately 32% in 2009 according to the Tendulkar measure of poverty, which is a commendable reduction. However, 32% is still high and more work remains.
The decline suggests that policies aimed at transferring more purchasing power to the poor, like welfare programs, have had some positive effect in reducing poverty.
A full analysis of the poverty reduction would require examining general equilibrium questions around how transfers to the poor may impact prices through deflationary pressure, which is beyond the scope of discussion.
Globalization presents new challenges for macroeconomic demand management and inflation control. Quantitative easing by developed nations has fueled inflation in emerging markets rather than boosting demand at home, contributing to a “salad bowl stagflation” situation globally.
As developed nations tighten monetary policy, capital flows may reverse, putting strain on developing nations. Renminbi revaluation by China could also add inflationary pressures.
Coordinated macroeconomic policies will be needed across nations to manage these challenges posed by globalization and differing domestic conditions. Individual country policies have limited effect in today’s interconnected world.
Fiscal policy involves management of the government’s budget and expenditure. A key focus is the fiscal deficit, which is the gap between government spending and revenue. Most governments spend more than they earn, so the deficit is usually positive.
Traditionally, governments aimed to keep the deficit low by controlling spending and raising revenue. However, Keynesian economics showed that running larger deficits can stimulate the economy during recessions by compensating for lower private spending.
India used fiscal stimulus during the 2008 global financial crisis to boost growth. However, large sustained deficits risk fueling inflation.
India needs to increase tax revenue as a percentage of GDP to around 15-20% to fund better infrastructure and social welfare. This can be done through loophole closing, not tax rate hikes.
Infrastructure investment is key to India’s growth but the government lacks expertise and capacity. Fiscal policy aims to incentivize private investment in infrastructure through policies like government guarantees for projects. However, reckless guarantees risk unsustainable future deficits if projects fail. Careful use of guarantees could mobilize private funds for needed infrastructure investment.
Governments are warned against giving open-ended guarantees to private investors for infrastructure projects, as this can lead to future fiscal problems.
However, targeted and well-designed guarantees in some cases can help strategic projects get off the ground, if done carefully to maximize positive spillover effects between complementary projects.
A hypothetical example is given of two infrastructure projects, each with 50% chance of success individually but 75% chance if both are built. Investors won’t invest without guarantees.
The government could guarantee both projects by promising to pay investors 4 if a project fails, and taxing investors 2 if it succeeds. This allows all parties to profit without increased deficits.
Strategic guarantees are a powerful tool, but must be used carefully by first validating claims of positive spillovers and selecting the right cluster of complementary projects.
India is considering this approach as it aims to rapidly industrialize, as China did in the late 1970s, though policies must be carefully designed to avoid potential pitfalls.
Regarding trade policy, India and China differed, with China pursuing exports more aggressively using currency devaluation at times. However, devaluation alone does not justify lowered prices.
For China, the goal may have been to establish habit among importers by lowering prices initially, planning to raise prices later to capitalize on built-up customer base and switch costs - a strategy not readily copied by India given its floating exchange rate regime.
Central banks intervene in foreign exchange markets to manage exchange rate volatility and influence the value of their currency. This is done through buying and selling foreign currency reserves.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) follows a “managed float” regime, intervening when necessary to reduce excessive fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Indian rupee. It usually acts through public sector banks to buy or sell dollars without directly signaling its actions.
Over time, sustained intervention can lead to large accumulations of foreign exchange reserves, as seen in China and India. However, intervention also poses challenges like controlling appreciation or depreciation of the currency.
Some argue RBI should intervene more to depreciate the rupee and boost exports, while others argue against trying to buck market trends. Intervention also raises issues around building up long-term reserves.
More strategic “schedule interventions” that condition currency transactions on exchange rate levels, rather than fixed quantities, may allow central banks to influence rates without significantly impacting reserves levels over time. This could give more policy flexibility compared to direct quantity-based interventions.

This passage discusses the challenges faced by central banks and policymakers in managing macroeconomic variables like exchange rates and inflation, while simultaneously making predictions about them. Some key points:

Macro variables like exchange rates and inflation are partly determined by expectations. Forecasts by central banks can influence these expectations and thereby the actual outcomes.
This creates a dilemma - what central banks say publicly affects the economy, similar to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. They thus have to be careful about making forecasts.
A model is presented where the actual inflation outcome lies between the forecast and a “benchmark”. There is a “fixed point” forecast that would be self-fulfilling.
For inflation control, a central bank may want to forecast low inflation even if inaccurate, as it keeps inflation lower. But this conflicts with the goal of accurate forecasting.
There is a consistency problem between the tasks of accurate forecasting and achieving other macro targets like low inflation. Perfectly achieving one goal can undermine the other.
This dilemma of managing macro variables while making predictions about them is a fundamental challenge faced by all central banks and policymakers globally. There may be no perfect resolution.

In summary, the passage discusses the theoretical difficulty central banks face in balancing macroeconomic management with accurate forecasting, due to the interaction between forecasts, expectations and real outcomes.

The summary is that globalization means that virtually all policymakers must contend with interconnectedness and spillover effects from other countries’ policies and economic conditions. As the passage shows, the U.S. credit downgrading and liquidity injections had unintended consequences for emerging markets like India through capital flight, currency depreciation, and inflation. Likewise, the creation of the euro without a full fiscal and banking union led to misunderstandings of risk among Eurozone members and posed challenges when the crisis hit. So globalization implies that domestic policies can no longer be developed in isolation, as events everywhere have ramifications elsewhere through integrated financial markets and economies. Policymakers must be aware of this interconnectedness and address spillover effects.

In 2013, the Federal Reserve announced plans to taper off its quantitative easing program of purchasing $85 billion in assets each month. This taper was formally announced in December 2013.
When the tapering was first indicated in May 2013, it triggered reactions in emerging market economies. Anticipating less credit and money flowing from the U.S., interest rates rose in the U.S. and capital started flowing out of emerging markets back to the U.S.
Emerging economies like India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey and South Africa saw sharp drops in their currency exchange rates. Countries instituted various measures to counter the outward flow of capital.
For India, the rupee depreciation had the benefit of boosting exports and sales abroad, which helped decrease India’s large current account deficit.
The episode showed that countries are highly interconnected due to globalization. Policies in one country can impact others, so policymakers must be aware of international implications.
Managing inequality and poverty reduction poses challenges in a globalized world. Domestic policies could backfire by causing capital and skilled workers to flee a country, worsening inequality and poverty.
Globalization means countries are often trapped in “prisoner’s dilemma” situations when acting alone on policies. Coordinated, global policies may be needed to achieve goals like shared prosperity.
In a simple economic model with taxation, as the tax rate increases from 0% to 100%, tax revenue first rises as incomes are taxed more, then falls as high earners reduce work substantially or stop working altogether.
This relationship between tax rates and tax revenue has implications for inequality. Modest tax rates maximize revenue that can be redistributed to help the poor. Higher tax rates beyond an optimal point hurt the poor as well as the rich.
In a globalized world with labor mobility, individual countries face incentives to lower taxes unilaterally to attract skilled workers and businesses from other countries.
However, if all countries act this way it leads to a “race to the bottom” where tax rates fall to zero, undermining domestic goals of shared prosperity.
This scenario illustrates the need for some coordination on global fiscal policies through multilateral organizations, as unilateralism is no longer viable in today’s interconnected world economy. Achieving shared prosperity and reducing poverty requires both domestic and international coordination.
Despite many anti-poverty programs since 1947, poverty levels in India remain high. This suggests existing programs are flawed and lack understanding of poverty’s causes and persistence.
Food policy is central to India’s anti-poverty efforts but performance has been dismal on reducing chronic poverty and malnutrition. The National Food Security Act of 2013 aims to improve this.
India holds large food stocks despite high prices, suggesting failure to effectively stabilize food production fluctuations. Release of grains has been inadequate to lower prices.
The food policy framework has not well served poor consumers or farmers. It has created wrong incentives stalling industrialization while relying on agriculture.
Fulfilling the right to food requires a new delivery mechanism beyond just spending. The entire food production, procurement, release and distribution system must be redesigned carefully to be effective and fiscally sustainable. Simply punishing cheaters or giving away stocks risks failures in governance and unintended subsidies.
A comprehensive, systematic view of the whole food policy cycle is needed rather than fragmented parts to better address poverty through the food sector in India.
India often intervenes in its food grain markets through minimum support prices (MSPs) and procuring excess supply from farmers. However, it struggles to effectively release this procured grain when needed to lower prices.
Simply improving storage facilities will not lower food prices on its own. Prices are determined by how the market acquires and releases food. Transparent rules are needed for automatic release of grain when prices rise.
Releasing grain in small batches to many traders/millers, without restrictions on reselling, will encourage distribution and drive prices down through competition. Profits motivate traders to sell to consumers.
The government buys excess supply above the market equilibrium at the MSP. It then struggles to offload this stock profitably, as selling above the MSP means no buyers. Flexible policies are needed to use private markets to distribute grain and stabilize prices.
India’s food grain management aims to support farmers and maintain stocks, but could be improved through more market-based release of procured supplies when needed to impact prices.
The government aims to support farmers by procuring food grains at an MSP (minimum support price) higher than the market equilibrium price. However, selling this grain at or above the MSP raises prices for some consumers above the free market level.
If the goal is to have farmers get above-market prices and consumers get cheaper prices, the government must incur some fiscal cost by procuring all supply at a high price (Ps) and selling at a lower price (P). This places a burden on government finances.
Having procurement both when supply is ample and scarce does not make sense from a self-sufficiency and price stabilization perspective. Procurement should occur more when supply is plentiful and prices are low, and less or none when supply is tight and prices high.
Merely procuring and holding stocks is meaningless if those stocks are never released during shortages. Price impacts depend on how stocks are released. If procurement exceeds release, average prices rise due to government becoming a net hoarder.
India’s policy has often involved procuring excessively while inadequate releases, making the government a leading hoarder and pushing up average food prices. A successful policy requires timely procurement and release to smooth market volatility.
The key objective of food security policy should be ensuring access to a minimum amount of food for the poorest and most vulnerable households. Simply having good intentions is not enough - the delivery mechanism must be properly designed.
Currently, India’s ration system provides subsidized grain to poor households via fair price shops run by shop owners. But shop owners often sell subsidized grain on the open market for profit or deny access to deserving poor households.
A better approach would be to provide food coupons or cash transfers directly to poor households. This empowers them to purchase food from any shop, reducing incentives for shop owners to exploit the system. Coupons could be exchanged for cash by shops.
Concerns about misuse of coupons/cash can be addressed through annual value adjustments and allowing coupon/cash sales. Empowering women beneficiaries may help ensure transfers are used for household well-being. Electronic cards or banking could replace physical coupons. Proper targeting is still needed to ensure benefits reach the truly poor.
The passage discusses the importance of the nuts and bolts or minutiae of the economy’s architecture, akin to the plumbing in a house. Policymakers often focus on high-level macroeconomic issues but ignore these underlying details.
It uses the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster as an example of how even small technical failures like an O-ring seal can bring down grand plans. This highlights the need to pay attention to implementation details.
Contract enforcement is identified as a key underlying factor, as a modern economy relies on individuals and firms being able to make enforceable agreements. Weak contract enforcement can significantly hamper enterprise and economic performance.
India is identified as having room for improvement in formal contract enforcement based on indicators like the number of procedures and time required. Weaknesses here could undermine economic growth despite efforts on macro policies.
The overall argument is that to truly understand economic outcomes and propose effective policies, one needs to examine both the macro-level themes as well as the micro-level plumbing, nuts and bolts, and contractual frameworks that underpin the functioning of the economy.
The passage discusses the complex relationship between contract enforcement and regulation. While contract enforcement is important for growth, there are valid reasons to place some restrictions on contracts.
One restriction is when a contract has negative externalities that impact others not involved in the contract. However, there are other complexities beyond just externalities.
The principle of free contract is based on the idea that if a voluntary exchange between consenting parties leaves them better off without hurting others, it should be allowed. However, not all free contracts fit this standard.
regulations are needed in cases of “large numbers” where allowing one type of contract broadly could undermine individual freedom of choice. For example, if many people could sign away workplace harassment protections, it may worsen conditions for those unwilling to do so.
The passage examines examples like restrictions on selling public housing and banning signing away certain worker rights. The overall argument is that respecting free contracts requires scrutinizing potential large-scale impacts through principled analysis rather than just intuition.
The passage then shifts to discussing the importance but complexity of the financial sector, citing examples from India’s history around unintended consequences of reforms and the ongoing need for adaptable, evidence-based policies.
The Unit Trust of India, launched in 1964, became a popular savings vehicle for middle-class Indians. This contributed to India’s savings rate rising from around 12% of GDP in the mid-1960s to over 20% in the late 1970s.
Bank branch networks also expanded rapidly over this period, from just over 5,000 branches in 1961 to well over 50,000 branches by 1986, further enabling higher savings.
This rise in savings and investment rates boosted India’s economic growth, helping it break out of the “Hindu rate of growth” of earlier decades. Household savings rose from 10% to 25% of GDP from the mid-1970s to late 2000s.
However, more reforms are still needed to modernize India’s outdated financial regulations and create space for private sector innovation and greater financial inclusion. Regulatory balance is also needed to protect vulnerable groups from predatory financial practices.
Ponzi schemes are discussed as an example where regulation may be needed to prevent unsustainable “get rich quick” schemes, even if entered into voluntarily, as they rely on an endless flow of new investors and must eventually collapse.
Charles Ponzi carried out one of the earliest and most well-known Ponzi schemes in the early 20th century in Boston. His schemes defrauded many families and ultimately led to his deportation and death in poverty in Brazil.
Ponzi schemes rely on using money from new investors to pay returns to earlier investors, disguising the fact that little or no legitimate business is actually being conducted.
More sophisticated schemes camouflage Ponzi mechanics by tying returns to legitimate business activities like selling overpriced products or granting stock options. On the surface these appear profitable, but ultimately rely on endless expansion of new investors/participants to avoid collapse.
“Too big to fail” policies can inadvertently enable Ponzi-like schemes by implying government bailouts if companies become large enough. This encourages reckless risk-taking. Improved rules aim to save companies but not the executives responsible.
Understanding how financial products and regulation evolve is important. Optimal laws don’t exist permanently - as society changes, laws must adapt. Continuous research is needed to distinguish beneficial from detrimental financial innovations and practices over time.
Corruption has been a long-standing problem in India. As the chief economic adviser, the author proposed a simple idea to curb one type of corruption called “harassment bribes.”
Harassment bribes occur when citizens are compelled to pay a bribe to obtain a service they are legally entitled to, such as getting tax reimbursement or clearing imported cargo.
Under existing law, both bribe giving and taking are illegal. But this aligns the interests of the bribe giver and taker, allowing corruption to be hidden.
The author proposed amending the law so that giving a harassment bribe is legal, while taking one remains illegal. This would make the interests of the giver and taker opposed after the bribe, discouraging bribe taking.
The idea was based on game theory and would address a key segment of corruption without expanding bureaucracy. However, it faced intense backlash with some misinterpreting it as condoning corruption. Members of parliament protested the proposal to government leaders.
The author proposed an amendment to corruption laws that would make recipients of bribes also culpable for corruption, not just the giver. This sparked public debate.
Prominent figures like Narayana Murthy supported considering the idea, while others criticized it. Politically, no one openly backed the controversial proposal for fear of backlash.
When letters of protest were sent to politicians, the author’s paper remained on the finance ministry website. No politician asked him to retract it or caused embarrassment for the government.
The Prime Minister told the author he was free to publicly discuss his ideas, even if the government did not agree with them. This openness to debate new ideas was unusual and strengthened India’s progressive development.
The author believes making recipients culpable could curb petty corruption without large enforcement efforts. Historical examples like the outlaw of sati support crafting laws to change strategic behavior.
The author still hopes the proposal will gain traction over time as more consider its strategic argument for reducing corruption. Some feminists also reached out, seeing relevance to issues like culpability in dowry practices.
Well-crafted laws have huge responsibility for bringing justice, fairness, and promoting economic development and well-being through facilitating trade based on respect for contracts.
Rent control laws seem beneficial for tenants as they fix rents and prevent annual increases. However, landlords will simply charge higher initial rents to account for this.
There is also an issue of asymmetric information. Tenants know if they plan to stay short or long term, but landlords don’t. So even short-term tenants get penalized with higher rents. This can reduce housing supply.
Similar problems exist with labor laws. Laws that restrict firing workers discourage hiring. This reduces demand for organized labor and keeps wages low.
Laws like India’s Industrial Disputes Act allegedly help workers but actually hurt them by shrinking the organized labor sector. Firms prefer capital-intensive production to avoid hiring restrictions.
In general, laws should allow freedom of contract as long as contracts don’t negatively impact non-parties. But rent control and some labor laws overrule contracts to the detriment of both landlords/employers and tenants/workers.
More flexible laws that explicitly allow different types of rental/employment contracts could expand opportunities for both groups by increasing housing/job availability. This would benefit workers on the whole.
The argument discusses the principle of free contract and recognizes that it has important exceptions and limitations. Contracts can be complex and unfair if one party doesn’t fully understand it. The collective effect of many contracts can impact wages and make some workers worse off.
There needs to be reasonable boundaries on contracting to prevent exploitation. However, these boundaries should not be arbitrarily set as that could negatively impact the groups they aim to help. Principles are needed to define the proper limits of free contracting.
The key problem with using laws to direct economies in developing countries is that citizens often collectively ignore the laws. Good laws are drafted but then sit unused while violations are common. Successful implementation is challenging.
Traditional views of how laws influence behavior are flawed. A new law is just words on paper and cannot directly change incentives or behavior. Enforcers are not robots and must also be accounted for in the analysis.
Laws can change behavior by altering people’s expectations of what others will do, by creating a “focal point” in the strategic situation. This focuses people’s coordination and influences outcomes through mutual understanding rather than direct incentive effects.
The driving example shows there are sometimes multiple Nash equilibria in a game. Even if players want to coordinate on an equilibrium, they may fail if they target different ones.
A “focal point” is a salient Nash equilibrium that all players recognize and target. It enables coordination even without communication.
The law can create a focal point by publicly announcing a rule, making one equilibrium salient over others. However, this only works if the equilibrium is self-enforcing.
Problems arise if laws are unclear, inconsistent, or excessively numerous. This damages the focal point role of law by making people ignore or not take laws seriously.
Social norms play a key role in making law effective. Laws must be simple, consistent, and enforceable to maintain their focal point status. Education is also needed to nurture norm of following law.
Ignoring political and social factors risks proposing policies that fail to consider individuals’ incentives and motives, undermining implementation and law’s effectiveness. Broader context is important.
The author gives an example from his time in Russia in 1992, where corruption was ubiquitous. He encountered several instances of having to pay bribes, including at the airport trying to leave the country after his visa expired.
He discusses the morality of paying or not paying the bribe demanded by the immigration officer. Ultimately he chose not to pay and fled to his flight instead.
This experience highlighted for him how important social and cultural factors are for economic development, beyond just economic policies. Societal norms, institutions and beliefs deeply influence an economy’s success.
Mainstream economics has tended to overlook these noneconomic drivers. But research in areas like behavioral economics now recognizes the importance of these social considerations.
In India, policymakers made mistakes by designing subsidy delivery systems that assumed agents like ration shop owners would act robotically to deliver subsidies. They did not consider these agents would act in their own self-interest.
An incentive-compatible system that accounts for agents’ self-interest may work in some cultures, but not others where social norms promote dutiful or altruistic behavior regardless of financial gains. Cultural factors program behavior and need to be considered.

The passage emphasizes the importance of understanding a society’s social norms and customs when designing policies. It argues that just as we need to understand what animals are instinctively predisposed to do, policymakers need awareness of human behavioral norms.

It provides an example from the author’s family of a long-time household employee who was trustworthy except for inflating prices when sent shopping. By understanding his tendencies, they were able to effectively manage interactions.

The author claims policymaking often fails to consider social norms. Good management involves assigning tasks according to who can be trusted with what. Both utilizing existing norms and modifying norms over time are important for policy success and development. Norms are shaped by environment and experience, not intrinsic to societies, so are changeable. Examples from Japan, Korea and India show shifting norms around punctuality. Understanding and guiding norm evolution should be a policy priority.

The passage discusses the problem of teacher absenteeism in government schools in India and proposes some potential solutions. It notes that a controlled study found around 25% of teachers were absent from schools on inspection days. Various incentives-based approaches are discussed, like instituting penalties for absences. However, the author argues that human behavior is driven by noneconomic factors as well, and multiple equilibria of social norms can exist.

The passage then provides some examples of how collective behavior shifts to better social norms without government intervention. It suggests leaders in business, communities, and government need to exemplify diligent behavior for social norms to organically shift. Overall, the key point is that while incentives are important to address issues like absenteeism, noneconomic drivers of behavior must also be recognized and alternative approaches involving social groups could help drive society to superior equilibria. Changing embedded social patterns of behavior may be needed for large-scale improvements beyond just policy fixes.

The passage discusses how it is psychologically difficult to appreciate life outside the privileged circles of government and policymaking. The author provides examples from their experience working in the Indian government. They recall discussions about deregulating fuel prices that did not consider the perks enjoyed by government officials themselves.

The author argues that India needs major administrative reforms to disrupt the comforts of the elite and promote inclusive growth. A commission should study modernized systems in countries like the UK, Australia and Singapore. Reforms should make it easier for citizens and businesses to function while focusing the bureaucracy on facilitating people’s lives, not finding fault.

Mindsets also need to change within the bureaucracy. While gradual internal changes can happen, political leaders need to prioritize reforms since they are less invested in the existing system. Overall, efficient administration could propel unprecedented growth by supporting other important reforms. But India’s democracy and growing economy already provide advantages for taking off globally if internal conditions are enabled.

Nehru pursued an ambitious foreign policy for India, navigating between opposing blocs during the Cold War and leaving a global imprint. President Obama also pursued a value-based foreign policy of “constructive cooperation” and “politics of decency”, though it draws some criticism for de-emphasizing power and subjugation.
Eleanor Roosevelt understood the early “distrust” between India and the US, likening the US to a “rich uncle” who helps on his own terms and chooses colleges for others. This contradictory tendency to promote democracy but also make choices for others hindered relations. Military rulers found it easier to build bridges with the US at times.
Relations have changed due to a multi-polar world and common interests in democracy, secularism, and countering terrorism. Increased Indian immigration to the US also strengthened ties. This allows a more balanced relationship than in the past.
The author argues India is poised to achieve economic takeoff and industrialize if it sustains 8.5% GDP growth and helps the poor, aided by new leadership and global conditions. But policymaking requires professional inputs to avoid unintended consequences.
Higher education is highlighted as a sector that could take off in India with minimal policy changes by removing constraints, akin to the IT services boom in the 1990s. The summary focuses on the key comparisons and arguments made regarding India’s foreign relations and potential for economic development.

India has natural advantages that could enable it to become a global hub for higher education, including widespread English usage and a long tradition of higher education and research. However, it is beginning to lose its early lead due to sticking to an outdated model of centralized control and funding of universities.

To transform higher education, India should reorganize bodies like UGC to focus on information dissemination and ratings rather than licensing. It should acknowledge different university standards and allow more autonomy. It also needs to introduce variable salaries to attract top talent globally and allow easier private sector entry and collaboration with foreign universities. Private universities can help meet commercial demand and give scholarships to boost reputation.

If accompanied by additional reforms, these changes could help India revive its strengths and become a truly global hub for higher education again. The profits from higher education can boost research and development within India, building important human capital that drives overall economic growth. Historically, societies that nurtured higher education and creativity prospered in other areas as well.

The author proposes developing India as an education hub that attracts students from around the world, which could boost India’s economy through tuition fees and make higher education more accessible globally.
However, large inflows of students from developing countries alone will not sustain this model, as most see education mainly as a path to jobs in wealthy nations, not India.
Students from rich countries are more likely to choose India based on educational quality and cost savings, as they can return home for jobs regardless. Tuition in the US is around $50,000 annually versus a potential $10,000 in India with lower living costs.
The private sector can drive this given large potential cost savings, but regulations are needed to prevent issues like misinformation from schools. Supportive visa policies for multi-year student visas are also important.
While no large government budgets are required, leadership and minor policy tweaks can help unleash India’s education sector and knowledge economy to power broader development. Optimal policy relies on letting markets function while also addressing needs markets can’t meet.

The position claims that there is no closed economy that has grown rapidly, therefore governments should not restrict trade or capital flows. This claim is flawed for two reasons:

The “therefore” does not logically follow. Just because no closed economy has grown rapidly does not necessarily mean opening up is what causes growth. There could be other reasons for the lack of rapidly growing closed economies.
The argument overlooks that the global economy as a whole is a closed system, and it has grown significantly over time. So the observation about closed economies does not prove the conclusion about restricting trade and capital flows.

Overall, the simple reasoning shows that the position does not logically follow from the observation it cites. A valid observation about patterns in the data does not on its own determine the appropriate policy response. More evidence and analysis would be needed to substantiate restricting or promoting openness.

Here is a summary of the key points from the chapter “up to 1991 and Since,” in Basu 2004, based on the references provided:

Letters quoted are from pages 1332 and 1330 of Howe and Frankfurter 1953, and Laski was a major influence in early Indian thinking (Kramnick and Sheerman 1993).
Chapter 11 of Rudra 1996, completed by T.N. Srinivasan, provides analysis of India’s fiscal policy.
India’s population growth rate in the 1980s exceeded 1.4% annually, so per capita income declined in at least one year, even as GDP grew (Basu 2004).
Jisheng 2008 provides a candid account of devastation from China’s Great Leap Forward and famine, tracing the phrase to Zhou Enlai.
Basu 2009 and other sources like Lin 1999 analyze India and China’s comparative economic growth and development.
Mehta 2014 discusses challenges of analyzing Nehru in retrospect and risk of “condescension of hindsight.”
Malone 2011 examines India’s complicated relationship with the United States.
Jalan 1991 provides a comprehensive account of India’s economy in 1991.
Many sources from the 1990s and 2000s analyze India’s 1991 economic reforms and subsequent growth.
Mohan 1992 and Ahluwalia 1991 analyze India’s industrial sector and role of controls.
Bhagwati 1993 provides a trenchant critique of India’s pre-1991 policies.
Basu 2003 analyzes the 1997 East Asian financial crisis.

The passage discusses how globalization and monetary policies have dramatically altered the nature of inflation in recent times. As predicted by Reddy in 2009, the large-scale liquidity injections by central banks around the world to stimulate economies during the recession have increased the risk of inflation. This prediction has been borne out by subsequent experience.

The passage then discusses the evolution of India’s monetary policy framework over time, including the introduction of tools like the Liquidity Adjustment Facility and repo auctions. It notes that India now freezes the spread between the repo rate and the reverse repo rate at 100 basis points. It also discusses efforts by the RBI to use the savings deposit rate as a policy tool.

The passage argues that while monetary policy is an important factor for inflation, other elements like exchange rate policies and capital account convertibility can also influence inflation. However, in recent years these other policies have remained stable in India. It notes the debate around how well monetary policy transmissions work in India and whether the exchange rate is a more important channel of influence on prices.

In summary, the passage analyzes how global liquidity injections and evolving monetary policy frameworks have contributed to changing inflation dynamics in recent times, with a specific focus on developments in India. It discusses various monetary and related policies that impact inflation.

The passage discusses several topics related to climate change, inequality, and the global food system/poverty.

It notes logical inconsistencies in trying to balance equality over time with other reasonable principles. It also raises questions about growing inequality in poor nations due to globalization.

It summarizes key principles and debates regarding measuring and reducing poverty and food insecurity. This includes debates over redistribution programs, poverty lines, subsidies, and direct transfers.

Issues with India’s public distribution system are outlined, such as leakage and spoilage of food grains. Reforms like smart cards or food coupons are proposed to more directly and efficiently deliver subsidies.

The role of agriculture, nutrition, and economic growth/productivity are also briefly discussed in addressing poverty and food security challenges. Overall, the passage synthesizes different economic perspectives on these complex, interconnected social issues.

Here is a summary of key points from the passage:

Social norms, institutions, culture, and noneconomic factors play a major role in economic behavior and development outcomes, beyond just narrow self-interest. Mainstream economics has often neglected these influences.
Behavioral economics has shown how factors like framing, biases, social preferences, and context shape decision-making in systematic ways. People are not purely selfish but also care about others and social/cultural norms.
Social networks, community ties, trust, and cooperation influence phenomena like household dynamics, migrant networks, political conflict, and development more broadly.
Different cultures exhibit different propensities to use instinct vs. contemplation in decision-making, with implications for prosperity. History and context shape these tendencies.
Understanding the noneconomic drivers of behavior, like social norms and culture, is important for development but these are still poorly understood since economics often assumed no such drivers. Recognizing their role is the first step.
Incorporating social, institutional, and behavioral factors provides a more holistic view of economic behavior compared to narrow assumptions of self-interest alone. This has implications for policy and development outcomes.
Basu criticizes India’s bureaucracy and politics for collective inertia that inhibits talented individuals within the system. However, he acknowledges examples of remarkable individual talent among top policymakers like former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
When addressing questions, Indian bureaucrats tend not to admit lack of an answer, but instead deflect to topics they can discuss.
The road ahead requires breaking up bureaucratic “traffic jams” through continued small reforms, as short interventions may be enough to shift equilibrium to better social norms and behaviors. Experimental evidence shows humble nudges can have large impacts by addressing small behavioral hurdles.
Building on India’s democratic foundations and openness to the world as envisioned by Ambedkar, deeper partnerships with countries like the US that share democratic values can help drive further reforms. Randomized trials have provided useful evidence but theory and reasoning are also needed to interpret results.
Reforming higher education is important to realize India’s potential. Streamlining procedures and reducing bureaucratic hurdles in various domains can unlock greater outcomes by addressing behavior. Continued efforts are needed to make people and systems more socially accountable.

Here are the summaries of the paragraphs and quotations requested:

His paragraph discusses how the phenomenon of globalization has led to increasing inequality both between and within countries. It notes how developing countries opened up to trade and investment from advanced nations, which disproportionately benefited urban skilled workers and disadvantaged rural unskilled workers, increasing inequality.

The quotation is: “Globalization has thus contributed both to increasing inequality between countries (as the gap between richer and poorer countries has widened) as well as within countries (as it has benefited skilled urban groups more than rural unskilled groups).” (Mukherjee 2007, 182)

The next paragraph discusses how economic reforms in developing nations in the past few decades have focused more on growth than distribution. It notes that while reforms have expanded opportunities and lifted many out of poverty, they have also disrupted traditional social safety nets and labor market regulations, increasing inequality in the short to medium term before benefits of growth trickle down.

The quotation is: “A focus on growth to the neglect of distribution can increase inequality in the short to medium term even while reducing poverty over the long term.” (Mukherjee 2007, 178)

Here are the summaries of the publications in the order they were listed:

Bowles and Gintis (2005) investigates whether self-interest alone can explain cooperation using evolutionary and institutional economics.
Burns (2014) discusses what actions Washington can take to revive relations with India.
Cagan (1956) examines the monetary dynamics of hyperinflation using studies in the quantity theory of money.
Calvo and Dercon (2013) analyzes vulnerability to individual and aggregate poverty using social choice and welfare approaches.
Chanda (2012) discusses services-led growth in the context of the Oxford Companion to Economics in India.
Chatterjea and Moulik (2012) define academic research in the introduction to the Oxford Companion to Economics in India.
Chattopadhyay and Duflo (2004) study the impact of a randomized policy experiment giving women political power in India.
Chatterjee et al. (2011) examine educational poverty traps and income-contingent loans in a working paper from the Indian Statistical Institute.
Chaudhuri and Gangadharan (2007) conduct an experimental analysis of trust and trustworthiness using Southern Economic Journal.
Chaudhury et al. (2006) study teacher and health worker absence in developing countries in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.
Chen and Ravallion (2013) analyze relatively poor people in a less absolutely poor world in the Review of Income and Wealth.
Chitre (2010) discusses monetary and fiscal policy for inclusive growth in a working paper from the Indian School of Political Economy.

The summaries continue in the same format for the remaining publications. Let me know if you need any of the other summaries expanded upon.

Here are summaries of the articles:

nshu and Abhijit Sen. 2004. “Poverty and Inequality in India.” Economic and Political Weekly 39 (38): 18–24. This article analyzes poverty and inequality trends in India from 1993 to 2000 using National Sample Survey data. It finds that while poverty declined overall, there was significant rural-urban and state-level variation. Inequality also increased slightly over this period at the all-India level.
Hoff, Karla, and Priyanka Pandey. 2006. “Discrimination, Social Identity, and Durable Inequalities.” American Economic Review 96 (2): 206–211. This article develops a model to explain how social identity and discrimination against minority groups can lead to durable inequalities even after discrimination formally ends.
Hoff, Karla, and Joseph Stiglitz. 2001. “Modern Economic Theory and Development.” In Frontiers of Development Economics: The Future in Perspective, ed. Gerald M. Meier and Joseph E. Stiglitz, 389–459. New York: Oxford University Press. This chapter reviews contributions of modern economic theory to development economics and identifies areas where incorporation of insights from other social sciences may help strengthen economic models of development.

The others were not summarized because they did not provide enough context in the request to summarize the key points of each article. Let me know if you would like a summary of any of the other articles.

Here is a summary of the references:

Nayyar, Deepak. 1996. Economic Liberalization in India: Analytics, Experience and Lessons. Kolkata: Orient Longman.

This source discusses India’s experience with economic liberalization, including analytics and lessons.

Neeman, Zvika. 1999. “The Freedom to Contract and the Free-Rider Problem.” Journal of Law Economics, and Organization 15:685–703.

This journal article examines the freedom to contract and the free-rider problem.

Nehru, Jawaharlal. 2004. The Discovery of India. Gurgaon, Haryana: Penguin Books India.

This book is Jawaharlal Nehru’s work about the discovery of India.

The other references provided were not summarized as the question asked to summarize “z.”, which did not match any of the reference details given. Let me know if you would like me to summarize any of the other references.

Here is a brief summary of the provided source:

lhi: Oxford University Press.

This source refers to Oxford University Press as the publisher for several of the citations provided. Some of the works published by Oxford University Press include:

“Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India” by Standing et al. Published by Bloomsbury Academic.
“Introduction: The Measurement of Inequality and Poverty” by S. Subramanian. Published by Oxford University Press.
“‘Inclusive Development’ and the Quintile Income Statistic” by S. Subramanian.
“The Evolution of Consumption and Wealth Inequality in India: A Quantitative Assessment” by S. Subramanian and D. Jayaraj.

So in summary, this source indicates that Oxford University Press is the publisher for some of the other sources cited, most notably some works by authors S. Subramanian on topics of inequality, poverty measurement, and economic development in India.

#book-summary

An Economist in the Real World The art of policymaking in India - Kaushik Basu