Amitava Bose

A vast amount of research has asked how and why the growth rates in the Indian economy have risen in recent decades. Implicit in much of that literature is the belief that if the growth rate has increased it must be because something underlying has changed - had some parameters embedded in the "structure" of the economy not changed, the growth rate would have been constant. This is, however, a presumption that may not be true. The search for structural "breaks" is the outcome of a preoccupation with steady states and constant rates of growth. To redress the balance this article provides some simple examples of models in which the rate of growth is never constant but changes endogenously over time. The lesson therefore is that changes in the growth rate have no necessary link with changes in the underlying economic regime or economic structure. This is not an India-specific point but is based on a general analytical argument.

Read more about The Analytics of Changing Growth Rates

Liberalisation Debate Some Careless Mistakes

Vol. 28, Issue No. 31, 31 Jul, 1993

Amitava Bose

This brief note discusses some instances of careless economic reasoning which have marked the otherwise very welcome debate among economists on economic liberalisation.

Read more about Liberalisation Debate Some Careless Mistakes

A Shot in the Arm

Vol. 22, Issue No. 24, 13 Jun, 1987

Amitava Bose

at least a decade to complete. Work on the Karwar naval base has already begun.
Similarly, what part of the provision tor the Departments of Atomic Energy, Ocean and Space are meant for defence purpose remains unknown. At the recent Indian Science Congress held at Bangalore a former secretary in the department of space, S Dhawan, is reported to have said that in 1984-85 nearly 25 per cent of the country's total scientific manpower had been involved in defence related research (The Times of India, January 5). This would imply that approximately Rs 120 crore out of the R and D A CONFERENCE on 'Economic Theory and Related Mathematical Methods' was held at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi Centre, during February 9-12, 1987. This happened to be the second conference in a series that one fervently hopes will endure. As had been the case last year, this year's conference too was a big success. It was distinctive both in format as well as in subject matter. Rather than seeking papers from selected individuals, this time a general call for papers was put out and contributions were refereed. The final selection represented a nice spectrum from Indian as well as foreign institutions. An obvious and desirable effect of the procedure adopted was that participants were not exposed to the celebrity who came without a paper.