Nobel winner Abhijit Banerjee says India's growth on shaky ground

The Indian economy is on a shaky ground, Indian-American Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee said hours after the winners of the coveted prize for Economics was announced on Monday (October 14).

Banerjee, who was awarded the prestigious prize along with his fellow economists — Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, said that the data currently available does not hold any assurance for the revival of the country’s economy any time soon, reported news agency PTI.

“The condition of Indian economy is on a shaky ground. After witnessing the present (growth) data, just can’t be sure about it (revival of economy in near future). In the last five-six years, at least we could witness some growth, but now that assurance is also gone,” he told a news channel in the US.

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Banerjee, 58, who is married to his fellow awardee Esther Duflo, received the prize along with another economist Kremer for their “experimental approach to alleviating global”. After the result was announced, he said that he never thought he would get a Nobel so early in his career.

“I have been doing this research for the last twenty years. We have tried offering solutions towards alleviation of poverty,” said Banerjee, who is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Book by Banerjee-Duflo to hit stands soon

‘Good Economics for Hard Times – Better Answers to our Biggest Problems’ — a book by Banerjee and Duflo would hit the stands on October 19, said another report.

According to publisher Juggernaut Books, it deals with pressing issues like employment, international trade and climate change, and also helps in finding solutions to challenges that the global economy is facing today.

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“It tries to find answers to questions like: Do immigrants take away jobs from poor native workers? Does international trade increase inequality, which is at present growing alarmingly? How do we manage the trade-off between growth and climate change? Is economic growth over in the West?” Juggernaut said in a statement.

“In the book, the authors argue that we have the resources to solve these problems; what we lack are ideas that will help us jump the wall of disagreement and distrust that divides us. Only if the best minds in the world work with governments and civil society to redesign our social programs for effectiveness and political viability will history remember our era with gratitude,” the statement added.

(With inputs from agencies)