Analyze Four Articles On India's Economic Growth From 1950-1970 (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

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Summary
Chapter 10 of the book “India after Gandhi” provides a glimpse of how India planned to transition from an agricultural-based economy to a modern economy anchored on heavy industrialization, state control of important sectors of the economy, and an ancillary role for the private sector (Guha 209-232). Friedman’s paper provides comments on some of the financial policies (e.g., investment policy, monetary policy, policy toward the private sector, and foreign exchange policy) that India needed to embrace to spur economic development (Friedman 163-176). Weiner’s article not only illuminates the importance of education in India’s economic development, but also provides several proactive interventions that the country needed to take to close the education gap with its Asian neighbors (Weiner 3007-3014). Lastly, Bhagwati’s article uses various economic models and concepts to explain why India was unable to achieve the intended economic growth rate between the 1950s and 1970s (Bhagwati 39-45).
Analysis
The four readings talk about India’s journey to economic modernization and the various bottlenecks that have hindered progress. Chapter 10 underscores the importance of the state in ensuring the economic development of India, while Friedman is of the view that a set of factors (e.g., free market dynamics, steady and expansionary monetary policy, education and training opportunities, and enhanced transportation and communication networks) should have formed the basic framework for India’s economic transformation. The readings by Weiner and Bhagwati also underscore the importance of primary education and raising literacy levels if India was to achieve the desired economic growth. Consequently, it is clear that India needed to invest in the education and training of its human capital to achieve meaningful economic development.
Additionally, although Chapter 10 underlines the importance of state control and having a strong public sector, the other three readings do not share this understanding and indeed argue that state control over economic activity led to extensive bureaucratic controls and promotion of inefficiency. Specifically, Friedman and Bhagwati’s readings are clear that India needed to desist from controlling the private sector and change its foreign investment policies to spur development. Overall, therefore, it can be concluded that extensive bureaucratic controls, inwar...