The paper argues that economism and, in particular, the individual drive to maximize utility and amass profit are not enough to ensure the efficient functioning of an economy; and that even for elementary economic activities, such as trade, exchange and contracting to occur smoothly, it is...

This paper examines how the patterns of India’s food consumption have been changing in recent times as a consequence of its faster economic growth and generally rising affluence levels. The study, also, presents evidence on the nutritional implications of these changes to reinforce some...

Social scientists often emphasize how ‘culture’ and ‘social norms’ can be important determinants of economic behavior and development. This raises questions of the relative importance of economic incentives and these other more social variables, like culture, and of how...

A note on the long-awaited Draft National Pharmaceutical Policy 2006. The Policy appears to have taken into consideration consumer needs, paying respect to rational therapeutics. A closer examination of the details---which is what policy critique should do—shows a patchy effort that may...

This paper queries the rightness of the current mainstream thinking on development and technological change; expresses the apprehension that the much-feared climate change seems to have begun, and concludes with a fervent plea to all to undertake some radically new thinking. It is a concerned...

This paper argues that at the present juncture in India’s development the window of poverty elimination provides the appropriate perspective to search for an alternative development paradigm. The alternative development paradigm outlined in this paper is based on the premise that market,...

There are two factors that make additional central transfers for reinforcing health services essential: (a) while the prescription of spending 3 percent of GDP on health may be an appropriate objective for the nation as a whole, in some of the states, the requirement is substantially higher and...

With liberalization of foreign technology import policy in the 1990s, India has seen declining R&D intensity at national level. This has generated a general concern on how Indian industries are doing in technology accumulation under the new policy regime. The present study has made a preliminary...