BOOK
REVIEW
TITLE:
INTERVENTIONS IN POLITICAL ECONOMY-EXPLORATIVE OBSERVATIONS
ESSAYS
IN HONOUR OF PROF.MANJAPPA D HOSAMANE
EDITED
BY: PROF. MUZAFFAR ASSADI
PUBLISHER:
KALPAZ PUBLICATIONS, DELHI, 2017
PRICE: Rs. 850/-
The
Political Economy Is A Varied Landscape
This is a slim, variegated, and academic volume,
of 13 macro-economic essays, broadly classified under the moniker of the
Political Economy.
It has been written by an assembly of
distinguished professors from Mysore University, in the main, with others from
abroad, and an industry voice or two to join the chorus.
The Editor Prof. Muzaffar Assadi, PhD from JNU
and post-doctorate from the University of Chicago, briefly sets the tone by
recounting the development of theory on
the Political Economy, beginning with Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill, through
the unavoidable Karl Marx, and on to distinguished 21st century
ethnic Indian thinkers like Amartya Sen and PN Bhagwathi.
The essays in this book include one from Prof.
Kishore Kulkarni PhD from the Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado
which argues that: “Policy effectiveness
is better explained when interest rate is
treated as a reflection of money supply change rather than as an instrument to
make the change in money supply”.
Kulkarni implies the recent US macro situation
with regard to small hikes in interest rates is a post facto acknowledgement of improving money supply, rather than
an agent provocateur to make it happen.
However, it will be remembered, that under
President George W Bush, post 2008, and much of
both terms of Barack Obama, US interest
rates were kept at near zero, and combined with huge stimulus packages to keep
the US economy from collapsing into a 1930s style Great Depression.
Another, on export decision making by the small
scale industry, comes from Dr.Younos Alroaia, Islamic Azad Industry, Semnan,
Iran.
He picks on the small scale industry in Iran
because it has become a major source of employment and is a growth driver of
exports. This may well have parallels in India. Reflective of this, in the
Indian stock market, it is small and midcap stocks that are much in demand.
Younos quotes 2004-2005 figures to cite 23%
of the total exports emanating from the small scale sector, along with 20% of total
manufacturing output,35% of indirect investment,18.4% of value-addition, and 4%
creation of fresh employment.
In Iran, largely dependent on its oil exports, small
scale industry accounts for over 80% of its entire industrial sector.
Dr. Alroaia demonstrates a strong preference
for “the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution
(TOPSIS) developed by Hwang & Yoon in 1981 for solving Multiple –Attribute Decision
Making (MADM) problems with a finite number of solutions”.
And to improve matters, there are, inevitably,
multiple variables to consider.
Prof. Assadi also writes on the Political
Economy of Climate Change. He calls it “the child of science”, implying that it
is both the problem and the solution, but with large implications for politics.
“Societies,” says Assadi, “ will not survive
unless and until capitalism is not disciplined, commoditization of environment is
not contained, and consumption is not restricted”.
Infosys Ltd. Lead Data Scientist Dr Vinay M R
has written on Innovative Business Solutions using Big Data Analytics. It is
used to analyse Retail Customer Behaviour.
He analyses a Switzerland based multinational
(14 countries), client’s experience.
The company is in e-Commerce via an online
retail platform, publishing of newspapers /magazines, digital newspapers, web
property, online ticketing, mobile platforms and Apps, TV and radio stations
and so on.
The Infosys worked mining of data threw up,
amongst other things, significant customer profiling, identified 14 opportunity
areas for potential increase in sales/revenue/ profitability, and
new monetization possibilities across business lines. This last, using
both available and potential data that Infosys could take on another contract
for.
Is there a direct connection between Financial
Liberalisation and Industrial Growth in India? Dr. Niranjan R of Vijayanagara
Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ballari, Karnataka, says yes.
Dr. Niranjan’s exploration suggest that “controlling
for other variables, the integration of financial systems promotes growth of
all industries regardless of their characteristics”.
Does a financial analysis of public, private
and foreign banks in India reveal a particular advantage for any one category?
The answer according to Seyed Mehdi Pourkiaei and Prof. S Mahendra Kumar of the
Department of Economics & Cooperation, University of Mysore, is yes and no.
Each has its advantages and there is room for
improvement all around. But yes, the comparative performance of Foreign Banks
is better than that of both Private and Public Sector Unit (PSU) Banks.
When we
are headed towards becoming the most populous country in the world by 2030, the
question of “International Labour Migration” is of particular interest.
Professor HR Uma of the University of Mysore
and Madhu S, Research Scholar explore this matter. Some countries with the
opposite problem are beginning to invest in skilling Indian labour already.
There a mismatch between countries with nil or
declining population growth and ageing populations, and India with its much
vaunted demographic dividend. Some 65% of its people are already under 35, and will
be 30 going forward.
The
world, on its part, is realizing that “Sustainable Development” must recognize the
positive contribution of migrants, and move towards international cooperation
in this regard.
This thought provoking volume has essays on a
number of other issues such as the viability of rainfed sericulture, the
renaissance and revival of languishing industry in the States of the Indian
Union with special reference to Karnataka, Voluntary Retirement Schemes (VRS),
and the gaps/ lacunae in official Statistics Systems.
It is dedicated, touchingly, in a Goodbye Mr.
Chips way, to recently retired Mysore University Professor Hosamane, who was
also a distinguished Banker and is clearly a Mentor to many of the contributors
in this book.
For:
The Sunday Pioneer BOOKS
(923
words)
November
4, 2017
Gautam
Mukherjee
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