Discussing ''India's Economy From Nehru to Modi: A Brief History'' | Book Talk with Professor Pulapre Balakrishnan

Interviewed by: Bilquis Calcuttawala and Aarjavi Shah In this episode of Interlinked's sub-series, Kitabon ka Karwaan, we hold a discussion around the recently published book by Professor Pulapre Balakrishnan, ''India's Economy From Nehru to Modi: A Brief History''.  We talk in-depth about traversing India’s economy from the Nehruvian era to the present, under the leadership of Narendra Modi and why this expansionary timeline is crucial to make conclusions about our economy. Additionally, we talk about public spending on education, gender parity and labour force participation rate, tying these with discussions on caste and matters of priority in public policy. In the end, we discuss what are some ways in which we can move away from focusing solely on quantitative goals and “reorient” our task to enable something greater. Professor Pulapre Balakrishnan is currently a Professor of Economics at Ashoka University and has held appointments at the University of Oxford, the Indian Statistical Institute (Delhi Centre) and the Indian Institute of Management (Kozhikode). His published work spans the inflationary process in the Indian economy, productivity growth in manufacturing, the macroeconomics of the transition to a market economy in Ukraine, agricultural involution in Kerala and economic growth in India. He has written in professional journals and is the author of books like Pricing and Inflation in India (OUP India, 1991) and Economic Growth in India: History and Prospect (OUP India, 2010). He has served as Country Economist for Ukraine at the World Bank and has been a consultant to the International Labour Organisation, the Reserve Bank of India and the United Nations Development Program. With that, we welcome you to the podcast professor.