Arvind Subramanian

One approaches this book with a lot of expectations, as the author, an eminent economist, was presumably privy to many of the present government's big decisions, especially the big disruption of wholesale demonetisation in 2016. Disappointingly, the author seems to duck the issue, not passing an economist's judgement, but instead asking why the measure received so much popular support. This ploy of assessing by making a virtue of necessity is seen in other cases as well, which shows up the fundamental weakness of too close an identification with the ruling dispensation. This is ironical, as the author (rather disingenuously) castigates the experts and intellectuals in India precisely on this count, of being unwilling to speak truth to power. Thus the initial chapters, on the economics, are rather unfulfilling. The section on macro-economic policy (deficits and public debt and so on) are scholarly but difficult to comprehend (this obviously ascribable to the reader's limitations). It is the the section on climate change policy that may, strangely, be the most balanced and well reasoned, although as he admits, this is not in his area of expertise.… (meer)