Retaining Balance: The Eternal Way

by M.R. Venkatesh

Retaining Balance is a fascinating approach to deal with the challenges faced by the discipline of economics. This work critically analyses the prevalent conundrum of policy framers who place too much reliance on the individual, in the process ignoring traditional institutions of family, society and community. Rampant individualism, in turn, results in excesses leading to the proliferation of either a corrosive state, or an extortionist market. Retaining Balance traces this conundrum to the Christian theology of original sin and broken self, necessitating salvation through an external agent viz., the state or markets, in the first place. This arrangement has spawned a series of excesses resulting in extant macroeconomic imbalances. Retaining Balance argues that the institution of family, rooted to civilisational restraints, alone can deal with such individual excesses. Importantly, it seeks to introduce the grand idea of individual duties along with the fundamental rights to balance the skew in our constitutional arrangements. A must read for people in power.

Dr M R Venkatesh is one of India’s leading Advocates on economic-criminal laws and a much sought-after legal professional. He is also a keen student of economics and politics. As a professional, he is an advisor to several corporates and promoters on complex transactions involving cross-disciplinary expertise. His earlier book titled Sense, Sensex and Sentiments has been acknowledged by experts as one of the pioneering works in the field of Anti-Money Laundering. He is a ranker in the final examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and well recognised for his professional integrity and acumen. MRV, as he is fondly called by friends, is a rare breed of Advocate who brings a trans-professional approach to the table. He has completed his doctoral thesis on the issue of Agricultural subsidies with SASTRA University.

Genres: Nonfiction

460 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 2021

Reviews

[Lasic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book by Venkatesh sir.

[Arun Subramanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shri MR Venkatesh, MRV as he is known, is a prolific commentator, writer, columnist and speaker on topics pertaining to country, growth, law, economics, ethics, culture and markets. MRV is a chartered accountant turned advocate, whose views are extremely balanced and focussed on wholesome development. MRV has written several columns and books; this review is focussed on his latest book “Retaining Balance – The Eternal Way”.
“Retaining Balance” is infact a compendium of a new way of economics; to me more powerful than the The Wealth of Nations of Adam Smith or The General Theory of JM Keynes, Hayek’s economics or the Marxist paradigm. The pattern of consumption for the sake of economic growth is the biggest fallacy of Capitalism. With Marxism too, the paradigm while hinting at a more equitable living for all (meaning rob Peter to pay Paul), is still about a foundation built on rampant consumerism, and a gross interference of the state into individual’s lives.
The focus of the current economic theories on consumerism insists on carving out each human as a point of consumption. The focus is so blatant, and laced with greed, families are tacitly broken down into individual consumers, and are kept broken and separated simply because it ensures far greater economic gains. Thus, broken families, and as a consequence, degraded virtues, and a slow obliteration of culture, have become widespread and the norm. With the state intervening directly, individuals are selfishly fixed on their rights, forgetting their duties towards family, society and nation.
MRV shatters these theories into millions of smithereens. He is indignant in his criticism, rightly so, of mindless consumption, and countenances these rather extreme ideologies with a path that is less greedy, less consumeristic, less waste generating, and therefore righteous, and yet satisfying. The rights versus duty argument is presented very well through the book, with a variety of examples and anecdotes.
In every chapter MRV poses a lot of deep questions, each, a research topic by itself. He answers several of them, and leaves a few for the readers to take up and work on. This book is a magnificent effort to stitch several relevant and connected themes across multiple faculties, and present them with precise articulation. “Retaining Balance, The Eternal Way” in my opinion is an eye opener, and is one of the top 5 books of the decade. It should be a mandatory read for students of all disciplines, bureaucrats, policy framers, politicians, scientists and business folks.

[Saravana Sastha Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very important book from the right of centre intellectuals, whose tribe is growing by the day and have significantly important ideas to offer while the 'modern' ways seems to be faltering across the globe. An important must read for those interested in economics, nation building and history.
However the book could have easily been a 100 pages less and still make similar hard impact.