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We get the economy we deserve: Decoding India’s freebie mindset
FirstpostBetter roads, railways and airports may help enhance the productive potential of the economy. “Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.” Elsewhere in the essay, “The economist studies the disposal of scarce means.” Precisely. Samuelson’s first name reminds me of another famous quote from a George Bernard Shaw book, Everybody’s Political What’s What?, published in 1944. “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” Shaw said this in the context of inflation, when debtors benefit. Serious stuff, not only the flippant “Magrathea is a myth, a fairy story, it’s what parents tell their kids about at night if they want them to grow up to become economists.” In defence of my profession, we need economists, not because they provide conclusive answers to any problem, but because of the way they approach a problem.
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