All the Wrong Turns: Perspectives on the Indian Economy

by T.C.A. Ranganathan

Why does India lurch from economic crisis to economic crisis? There’s been one every decade since 1950. Why is a decade of high growth always followed by a decade of low growth? How does India’s economic management differ from China’s? What’s the mindset that has shaped policy since Independence? Are we doomed to bumble along? These are some of the troubling questions that T.C.A. Ranganathan and T.C.A. Srinivasa Raghavan attempt to answer in this thoughtful book. Both experienced observers of the Indian economy and its constraints, they analyse the economy over the past seven decades to examine how successive governments have managed the Indian economy. They find that there has been a remarkable continuity in policy and strategy, mostly of the wrong sort! In All the Wrong Turns, they investigate all major strands of the economic, political, constitutional and administrative system to delve deep into factors that have constrained the country’s development. The solutions they offer are implicit in their analysis.

Genres: Economics, India

399 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2019

Reviews

[Raj Krishna · Rating 1 out of 5]

The same old wine in a new bottle!

[Nkmgmt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the book is written by two authors, in different styles, virtually in two parts, it also needs to be reviewed in two parts.

The title suggests it's possibly a book about fault finding with the government's economic policies , instead it turns out to be a pious attempt to find solutions from around the world, especially Chinese, and suggest to be applied for India's growth.

It's written in the format of a report by an experts committee, with the mandate to study and suggest ways and means of reforms.

Written in chapters devoted to agriculture, manufacturing, international trade, banking, fiscal policy and the institutions , the last two by TCA Srinivasa Raghavan, the journalist, the sincerity and devotion of the authors to study the issues in as much length, breadth and depth as possible is highly praiseworthy.

Though comparisons are nominally made for the top ten countries on parameters, the main focus is on comparing with China's stupendous progress, adopting the purview of 'we could have been China' as a main theme of the book...

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[Aditya Bharadwaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book that's a great primer for detailed study into sectors of the Indian economy and how successive governments have failed to create a meaningful change for improving lives of Indians.

The difference in the styles of the two authors becomes very apparent. First four chapters are more data driven and analytical. They provide more evidence and may feel like a textbook. On the contrary, they're great for ones who are beginners in understanding the Indian economy. The remaining two are more fun to read and are interspersed with more quips and very wide range of information but less numbers and tend to get very general.

[Navdeep Pundhir · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only chapters worth reading pertain to Banking, public finance and institutions, which I am guessing are written by Srinivas Raghavan, as I am used to his writings in Business Standard.
The first 200 pages are bland and read more like a second rate economics textbook than a book supposedly claiming to provide perspectives on Indian Economy.
At best, avoid it;

[Ananth Krishna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An above to average assesment of the problems that has affected the economy. It is a sector wiss assessment of the problems of the Indian economy.

[Venkateshwaralu S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic numerical accounting of how India did in terms of financial health since independence. Authors come with a deep insight into the domain and submit their personal insights on what could be improved in future. For the uninitiated, definitely a recommended read.