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Robbins Revisited: The Indian Experience

This research paper was presented at the 75th Anniversary celebration of Lionel Robbins celebrated Essay by the LSE in December 2007. It tries to ‘explode the traditional definition of Robbins’ as a science that studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. The Indian sub-continent shows that consumption across all income groups is on the rise, especially due to growing consumer loans financed by an expanding banking system; and generally on account of a progressing globalizing economy. Thus, the problem of choice and prioritization seems to become less severe, as people can buy more via loans, as well as work harder and smarter due to increasing job opportunities, particularly in the high growth industries of information technology, medical transcription, tourism, and other services. This is supported by empirical evidence of the earning and expenditure data of a select segment of the Back Processing Office workers, whose incomes have risen the fastest. Also, the income of the common man is rising due to increasing opportunities of livelihood that provide more work as documented by international institutions like the World Bank, and also due to privatization and de-nationalization thereby harnessing under-utilized or unutilized potential resources. This also questions the second important tenet of Robbins contention of the deductive nature of economic analysis, as most of the economic analysis and policies are based on empirical research and methodology. The third premise focusing on the positive aspect of economics is open to criticism, as the normative aspect should also be considered. This becomes essential to balance the existing situation with the ideal one, as it’s important to know and act in the direction of 'what should be'. The model value of this proposition would help to balance realism with idealism, and fine tune excessive materialism. The Indian growth story may seem impressive, but may not be so in terms of distribution of opportunities, income and wealth.