The Anatomy of ‘Failures’ (Presidential Address)

Development economics, in its bid to attract the attention of the somewhat unchivalrous economists, has worn many masks in the intellectual ball that has been going on since 1950. And it has indeed been variously recognized by the dazzled economists – as a relentless pursuer of growth at all cost, Arthur Lewis (1954); a passionate advocate of economic justice and a purveyor of basic needs for the poor and the needy, Paul Street en (1981); a crusader against ‘dependency’ on some real or abstract centre, Samir Amin (1976); a revolutionary with a cause to eliminate the last traces of imperialism, feudalism and capitalism, Paul Baran (1952); a tame &alancer of growth, equity and individual liberty, Hollis B. Chenery (1983); and a pretender to the throne in a realm that rightly belongs to neo-classical economics, Deepak Lal (1983).