Political Economy, Liberalisation and Growth in India, 1991-2008

The phenomenal growth and liberalisation of the Indian economy has been the subject of extensive scholarly documentation and competing interpretations. This book examines the key period of liberalisation in India from 1991 to 2008. It analyses the relationship between growth and liberalisation and, in particular, the recent miracle growth rate (TM) and considers its sustainability in the current Indian economic environment. The book explores and re-evaluates the historical experience of planning in India between 1950 and 1980 as an alternative model of state-led economic development, discusses how far current rapid growth is the result of liberalisation, and how strong the case is for continued liberalisation today. The book is a significant contribution to the growing debate on economic growth and liberalisation, and the broader subject of economic development in India and other developing countries. It will appeal to students, researchers, lecturers and all those interested in South Asia in general and, India, in particular. It is also an essential resource for the study of international political economy and development economics.

Matthew McCartney is a Lecturer at the Department of Economics, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), UK. He is the author of India - The Political Economy of Growth, Stagnation and the State, 1951-2007 (also published by Routledge, 2009).