IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/millen/v4y2013i1p27-39.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Economic Theory Inform Government Policy?

Author

Listed:
  • Kaushik Basu

Abstract

This article addresses the interconnections between two seemingly disparate worlds—the world of abstract economic analysis and the world of policy and politics, drawing on the author’s personal experience in the two worlds. A fundamental premise underlying the analysis is that it is a society’s ideas and beliefs that are ultimately responsible for its development. The absence of good, scientific ideas proves to be the biggest stumbling block in crafting good policies. Keynes was right when he wrote that ‘the power of vested interest is vastly exaggerated compared to the gradual encroachment of ideas.’ So was Nehru when, in 1929, in a speech in New Delhi, he urged his young audience: ‘The world is moved by ideas.’ India today stands on the cusp of a major economic take-off. It is up to us to seize the moment. To do so, however, we need to bring the best ideas from the world of scientific enquiry into the humdrum world of politics and policy. The aim of this article is to illustrate by drawing on real-life examples, that it is possible to do so.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaushik Basu, 2013. "Does Economic Theory Inform Government Policy?," Millennial Asia, , vol. 4(1), pages 27-39, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:millen:v:4:y:2013:i:1:p:27-39
    DOI: 10.1177/0976399613480881
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0976399613480881
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0976399613480881?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:millen:v:4:y:2013:i:1:p:27-39. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.