The Economic Survey 2011-12, unbelievably, is an exciting document, full of insights into economic and human behaviour that can affect the economy that the earlier surveys often lacked. Said to be Dr Kaushik Basu’s last economic survey as chief economic adviser, it paints a picture of India where the future is brighter than the present and this is predicated on a roadmap that it provides to righting the wrongs in the economy.
As a report card of the government on the eve of the General Budget on Friday, the survey warns the government against falling into the trap of complacency and says that India should benchmark its growth to its best years. The low GDP growth due to the slippage in the industrial sector should be treated as a wake-up call to step back and introspect what is wrong and what has to be done. In short, it calls for a vision for India and not ad hoc measures where the government’s energies go into fighting small fires.
What is fascinating is that it echoes the aspirations of the people and also that of the Reserve Bank of India in its suggestions to the government to get out of the chakravyuh (maze) that it is caught in.
A very refreshing aspect is its view that in a democracy like India, what can be done by the government depends in great measure on how ordinary people think and what people believe in. This is what electoral politics is all about.
The survey says this was ignored because much of traditional economics was written as if these non-economic facets of life did not matter.
It talks of a value-based economy where honesty and trustworthiness constitute the cement that binds society.
The government has lost the trust and confidence of people and most commentators hope that in Friday’s budget, the government restores this confidence and trust so the people know that it will do something when it says it will.
The survey calls for a break away from the culture of “permissionism” which still haunts us, thwarting creativity and enterprise.
Clearly, the Economic Survey 2011-12 should be compulsory reading for politicians, members of Parliament and other decision-makers.