From 50 Years Ago: Barely Begun

Barely Begun

If the tax effort in the Budget for 1970-71 appears substantial—it is certainly not ‘staggering’ or ‘stupendous’, as has been suggested—it is so only in contrast to what Finance Ministers have been used to attempting in the recent past and not in relation to the investment needs of the economy. True, the Budget speech and the Economic Survey show some appreciation of the crucial role of public investment in spurring overall industrial growth. This is a definite advance over the Morarji Desai line, which seemed to survive Morarji’s own departure from the Government, of trying, through a variety of concessions and incentives, to make the tail of private investment wag the dog of industrial growth. Of course, the appreciation remains yet largely on paper; it is not much in evidence in the Budget proposals.