The confused left during this choices and competition era

“The left critics could never figure how to deal with Suresh as an unwavering advocate of economic reforms. So beyond reproach was his commitment to poverty alleviation that they did not dare try to dismiss him with the pejorative label "neo-liberal". With his impeccable credentials as a student of poverty, Suresh could fearlessly defend policies that he saw as in the national interest even if they made him unpopular with his peers. Thus, for example, as a member of the last Pay Commission, he became the lone dissenter to the recommendation of salary increase for civil servants without any consideration of merit.”


From With the passing away of Suresh Tendulkar, India lost a leading light by Arvind Panagariya

Value of a man

God, give us Men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honour; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking.

-Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-81)

See here for Suresh Tendulkar: The Judge Amongst Economists

Professor Suresh Tendulkar (1939-2011)

I met once Prof.Suresh Tendulkar during a book launch in Delhi in 2010. He was alone! After the event he went in an Indica car. His car driver was a Sardar Ji!!

He will be remembered in my views for three things (leave the poverty estimation aside!) in broader context: 

1. “In the 1980s and 1990s, Tendulkar cast his net far and wide. He was the great critic of planning, the protagonist of the market.”  For more see here.
2. He concluded (a) that government servants were paid far more than the public realised through all sorts of hidden benefits and (b) that their emoluments needed to be linked to efficiency in some manner. But the others on the panel had a different agenda. In the end Prof Tendulkar was forced to write a dissenting note.” See here for more.
3. His analysis on inequality

The myth of “Inequality and Equity during Rapid Growth Process”

As I have earlier posted here about few facts of Prof Suresh Tendulkar new paper published in the book.

Sandy requested for the link.

Now the presentation of this paper is available here.

Also see other presentations/papers here.

Review by Saubhik Chakrabarti This book is a festschrift for Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Free market heal inequality

Reviewing Prof. Suresh Tendulkar paper on “Inequality and Equity during Rapid Growth Process” published in the “India’s Economy: Performance and Challenges: Essays in Honour of Montek Singh Ahluwalia” Mythili Bhusnurmath writes:

• “Tendulkar concludes that equity would be advanced in the normal course of market operations without government intervention for reducing inequalities if technological changes reduce the relative price of one or more necessities of life or by enhancing the supply and consumption of necessities like food. This is what happened in China during the transition from collective farming to individual household responsibility system that generated economic incentives that were instrumental in enhancing the supply and consumption of necessities like food.
• So, contrary to widespread belief, certain types of market outcomes can be equity-enhancing as opposed to the usual intellectual presumption that all market outcomes are necessarily inequitable. Now, if only the rampaging Maoists in central India were enlightened enough to read Tendulkar’s paper, growth might get a chance!”

The paper is worth reading not just Prof rejected the old theory of “Standard measures of inequality such as Gini coefficients” but makes a case to amend the notions of inequality in market and how market create equality in society. You have plenty of examples to count!! Think of tiny mobile phone to small car.