Fw: A Chakraverti/Sabhlok vision for India?

["Dr.SubrotoRoy" <sroy@vgsom.iitkgp.ernet.in>]

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>Dr Sanjeev Sabhlok writes:
>
>"For India, good economic policy will be seen to have worked when we
>>generate a national vision for the creation of large, beautiful and clean
>>cities. Sauvik Chakraverti talks of 400 Singapores in India. I can not
find
>>a more powerful vision statement for India. We should not merely look at
>>per capita incomes nor allow our fears of heavy migration into urban areas
>>to swamp our thought processes. Planned and rapid urbanisation will be the
>>true test of our understanding of economics."
>
>
>
>
>
>It seems to me there may be the makings of a contradiction here, assuming
>Mr. Chakraverti has been quoted correctly, and assuming both Chakraverti
and
>Sabhlok wish to be seen as subscring to classical liberal principles.
>
>These principles, as we know,  respect the dignity, autonomy, and
>reasonableness of individuals.  In India, most of our citizens happen to
>reside in rural India or have strong rural roots, and there has to be a
>liberal presumption that they are choosing to do so.    Liberal thinking
>would respect these choices, and focus on what common goods come to be
>necessary from common resources at local, provincial and national levels.
>
>Grand vision-making of clean streets or "400 Singapores" is somewhat
>antithetical, it seems to me, to the slow, pondering, modest ways of
>classical liberal thinking -- e.g. if you want clean streets and pretty
>cities, the liberal would say look at rent-control laws, property-rights
and
>the property-tax base, as well as the competence of civic administration
and
>politics;  our semi-communist and/or semi-fascist elites and governments in
>India would instead start building dozens of fly-overs using international
>loans, consultants and contractors.
>
>Subroto Roy
>
>
>
>>
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>


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This is the National Debate on System Reform.       debate@indiapolicy.org
Rules, Procedures, Archives:            ../debate/
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