A Study of Concept and Method Nalini Vittal The issues of inter-sectoral terms of trade are issues of political economy. To equate them with endless calculations is to deflect the debate. To use these calculations to argue for an arbitrary 'equivalence' is based on a complete misunderstanding of the role of agriculture within the economy. Development implies a faster rate of growth of the non-agricultural sector, and to press for a mathematical parity, and that through higher agricultural prices, is to make nonsense of a critical issue. Further, the author attempts to show in this paper, the entire exercise is faulty purely in terms of its arithmetic.
