ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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Economic Survey 2014-15

Growth Policy and Theory
The Economic Survey is an important economic document published every year by the Ministry of Finance. This article undertakes a critical assessment of the vision of economic growth embedded in the Economic Survey 2014–15. It is argued that the current vision of economic growth is largely supply-side in nature and that policymakers need to take cognisance of the demand-side constraints in India through the framework of demand-led growth theory—a non-mainstream approach to understanding economic growth.

I acknowledge Chetan Choithani, Rahul De, Aashish Gupta, Yacoub Kuruvilla, Seema Mundoli, Jillet Sam and Limakumba Walling for their helpful comments on an earlier draft without implicating them. A version was presented at the Azim Premji University Faculty Seminar Series on 11 May 2015; I thank the seminar participants for their comments

Every year, before the union budget, the Government of India, through the office of the chief economic adviser, brings out the Economic Survey. The Economic Survey 2014–15 (ES 2014–15 hereafter) is primarily the handiwork of the chief economic adviser. This document is of importance and receives critical analysis because it acts as the prelude to the union budget. Additionally, the incumbent government’s understanding of economic growth can be extracted by going through this key document.

This article is divided into two parts in order to critically assess the growth policy and theory embedded in the ES 2014–15. The first part critically comments on the current ES, focusing on the growth-related policies. In the second part, the two competing theories of economic growth are presented which deepens the critical commentary undertaken in the previous section.

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