Third Dr P C Bansil Memorial Lecture

The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, in association with Techno Economic Research Institute (TERI) cordially invites you to the Third Dr. P. C. Bansil Memorial Lecture.

Abstract: It is generally believed that equity and fast growth work against each other. This argument is based on the notion that tax cuts and other supply side measures strengthen the incentives to investors while any measures to support workers or in any increase in social programmes does the opposite and reduces investment and the pace and sustainability of growth. We argue that when the demand is low because the aggregate incomes have collapsed, there will be no investment and growth will not be sustained and its pace will be slow. For sustained and fast growth, you need an inclusive growth. Poorer people spend more of their incomes and have a bigger impact on aggregate demand and hence on growth. We do this by analyzing the demand patterns of how different income groups in India spend their money in India. First, the part of income growth accrues to the poorer groups, the greater is the addition to the aggregate demand. Second, the poor er the consumer, the more she/he is likely to spend on more labour intensive goods and services. Third, why it is relatively harder to follow export led strategy. Lastly, in addition to the impact on unequal growth in India, how some of the big macro problems in the developed world can be explained by tracing them to skill biased technical change. Are AI and automation likely to lead societies to stagnation? Is it likely to lead to stagnation?

About the speaker: Professor Ashok Kotwal is the Emeritus Professor of Economics at the Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, Canada. A Senior Fellow at Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis in Development(BREAD), he also serves as an Associate at (ThRed) Theoretical Research in Economic Development and an Editor-in-Chief for 'Ideas for India' (a portal dedicated to the development and policy issues in India).

The lecture is being organized in the memory of eminent agricultural researcher Dr PC Bansil and is being graciously supported by Techno Economic Research Institute (TERI). Dr Bansil (1921-2016) belonged to the first batch of the Indian Economic Service. He also worked with the FAO for about 15 years and chaired Working Group on Animal Husbandry of the Tenth and Eleventh Year Plans. He authored several books and a large number of papers on agricultural economics and statistics.