Means to Augment Human Well-being

There have been many recent controversies in India involving the rate of economic growth. Consider the debates on the average growth rate during the regime(s) of the United Progressive Alliance and National Democratic Alliance (Nair et al 2018), on the method of calculating the rate (Mishra 2019), or the priority of this rate vis-á-vis other policy goals (Bhattacharya 2013), each involving celebrated academicians, powerful political leaders, and experienced bureaucrats.

The economic reforms in India, that took a formal shape in 1991, were all about increasing this rate. A high rate indicates a faster increase in the scale of economic activities. This increases the income of those involved with production, making them potential buyers of more goods and services. This, in turn, signals new investment, creating further demand. The process repeats, but every time with an increase in the flow of goods and services and, in turn, in the inputs required to produce them. Such expanded reproduction is a necessity for sustaining capitalist economic systems.