Category Archives: Economics

December 12, 2011

Selling the wrong idea

Adam Smith, writing in The Wealth of Nations, was probably the first to call England a nation of shopkeepers. But few remember that Smith used the phrase to argue that England was a “nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers”. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Politics | 3 Comments
August 24, 2011

Multinational Corporations and Development: Friends or Foes?

It is an honor to be this year’s Eminent Scholar in International Management. I join a distinguished group of previous recipients, led by the late C.K.Prahlad who was also a good friend and indeed an important supportive voice in India’s … Continue reading

Posted in Economics | 1 Comment
March 2, 2011

Four Fallacies of the Crisis

The current twin crises in finance and the real economy, what Americans call Wall Street and Main Street, and the interminable discussions about financial reform and the prospects for economic recovery, have spawned several fallacies that need to be addressed … Continue reading

Posted in Economics | 1 Comment
December 1, 2010

India’s reform and growth have lifted all boats

The following article is based on a lecture Professor Bhagwati will be presenting to the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) on December 2nd, 2010. India’s economy again exceeded expectations, growing by 8.9 per cent in the second quarter. Those outside India … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Politics | 1 Comment
September 9, 2010

Capitalism and Economics: Premature Obituaries by Stiglitz and Soros

Having just seen a strange attack in the Financial Times on Economics by my distinguished colleague Joe Stiglitz, in alliance with the financier George Soros, and having witnessed earlier their assaults on Capitalism as well, I believe it is time … Continue reading

Posted in Economics | 2 Comments
August 31, 2010

The Manufacturing Fallacy

NEW YORK – Economists long ago put to rest the error that Adam Smith made when he argued that manufacturing should be given primacy in a country’s economy. Indeed, in Book II of The Wealth of Nations, Smith condemned as … Continue reading

Posted in Economics | 2 Comments
August 24, 2010

Expanding India’s Expertise

Recently, Sanjaya Baru, the Prime Minister’s former Press Secretary, sounded the alarm over how many of the Indian think-tanks were now dependent on foreign public and private institutions — the World Bank, DFID (UK), Oxfam and many others — for … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Politics, Trade | 2 Comments
July 7, 2010

Protectionist Myths

At a debate in New York last year entitled “Buy American/Hire American Policies Will Backfire,” with hundreds of people in attendance, my team of three free-trade proponents took on a trio of protectionists who are often in the public eye. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Trade | 1 Comment
June 18, 2010

Fair Trade versus Free Trade

Below are excerpts from an online debate hosted by The Economist. The original debate is found here. Driven in part by a progressive lowering of barriers to trade in both rich and developing countries, global trade expanded faster in the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Trade | 3 Comments
May 5, 2010

India’s mistaken call for renminbi appreciation

India’s central bank governor issued in late April a critique of the alleged Chinese undervaluation of the yuan/renminbi, siding therefore with the U.S. politicians and some think-tanks (chiefly Fred Bergsten and Arvind Subramanian of the Peterson Institute for International Economics) … Continue reading

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