[Dec 2007, Volume 4 Quarterly Issue] Pdf File size - The IIPM Think ...

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
planning for competition, not by planning against competition
Dear reader,
After being shackled for nearly five
decades, a sizeable class of ingenious private
entrepreneurs have been fully liberated,
at least in some economic spheres.
They are now exhibiting their true potential
and international competitiveness as
is reflected in the popular media. In this
context, after perusing all those informative,
yet disparate nuggets and given the
fact that India boasts of a deep financial
services sector, long standing and diversified
private participation (relative to
China, Brazil and other emerging economies),
vibrant entrepreneurial class and
Anglo-Saxon legal institutions, it may
seem surprising that India still painfully
needs a much more market-orientation
across all levels. There is still exists a robust
economic reasoning which asserts
that the state should disentangle all obstacles
and disengage the past planning
follies to release the creative, social and
economic energies of the fast growing
‘bottom millions’. Consider this: According
to the Heritage Foundation’s Index of
Economic Freedom (2007), India is only
55.6 percent free. This score makes it the
world’s 104th freest economy!
In this issue of IER, many empirical
research studies profess that, among
other positive outcomes, economic freedom
promotes national growth and poverty
reduction. Furthermore, different
research papers outline the processes and
policy implications of business freedom,
financial freedom and investment freedom
in several areas, which specifically
and importantly includes
basic education,
labour markets
and financial markets.
Unlike most other issues,
IER this time
covers not only business
and economics,
but also deals with
important research
submissions that falls
outside the realm of traditional economics-
such as intellectual property, ecology
and environment, economic history and
politics This issue, we have some original
research and novel analysis about
• Public governance, market, deprivation
and the political system.
• India’s growing ecological footprint
• The international trade in higher education
and implications for India.
Prasoon.S.Majumdar
Managing Editor
M.N.V.V.K.Chaitanya
Deputy Editor
• Why poor parents are choosing ‘More
Market, Less Government’ in education,
and what we should do about it?
• Accountable governance and pro-poor
markets for poverty reduction
• Reforms in the Indian banking sector
and policy reversal
• Economic freedom in India’s product
and labour markets
Above all, after reading all the opinions
featured here in this issue, we at the
IIPM Think Tank are of the firm opinion
that, if we get a state that reflects more of
what this country is actually about, India
can indeed turn the century and its market--
around, in the very near future. The
impressive response in areas that have
been reformed in the recent past must
give policymakers confidence that further
liberalisation will eventually deliver additional
growth dividends and foster the
process of pulling millions of people out
of poverty.
Best,
Prasoon.S.Majumdar
M.N.V.V.K. Chaitanya