India's political economy

the long version

In India's Political Economy an American analyst of Indian economic development looks at the way the interplay between markets and governments (and his own thinking about the subject) has evolved over the past thirty-five years. Starting with a statement of the issue and of what 'giantism' means for the Indian economy, Professor Lewis in a series of essays probes the history of what transpired between the Government of India and its principal aid donors during its first experience with pro-reform arm-twisting in the late sixties, when he himself worked for President L.B. Johnson as one of the twisters. Thereafter, there are some essays on India, especially about rural matters, from the seventies. He devotes the final four of twelve chapters to current policy issues, looking beyond demand stabilization and growth promotion to the possibilities of movement toward a more 'horizontal ... spread-out, lightly centred system of distant, differentiated states that nevertheless hangs convincingly together.' The outcomes will depend pivotally on the quality of government.