Economic reforms: A bibliography

A collection of books which encapsulate India’s liberalisation journey

GN Bureau | July 21, 2016


#Kaushik Basu   #Chidambaram   #Shankkar Aiyar   #Reetika Khera   #Pulapre Balakrishnan   #Jean Dreze   #Yashwant Sinha   #Vinay Sitapati   #India reforms   #1991   #liberalisation   #economic reforms  

As the country completes 25 years of economic reforms, we recommend following books that give a glimpse of India’s journey after the historic economic reforms in 1991. 

PERSONALITIES, MEMOIRS

Half-Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed IndiaHalf-Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India
By Vinay Sitapati
Penguin, 2016
  Confessions of a Swadeshi Reformer: My Years as Finance MinisterConfessions of a Swadeshi Reformer: My Years as Finance Minister
By Yashwant Sinha
Penguin, 2007
  A View from the Outside: Why Good Economics Works for EveryoneA View from the Outside: Why Good Economics Works for Everyone
By P Chidambaram
Penguin, 2008
 
An Economist in the Real World: The Art of Policymaking in IndiaAn Economist in the Real World: The Art of Policymaking in India
By Kaushik Basu
Viking, 2015
  The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan SinghThe Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh
By Sanjaya Baru
Penguin, 2014
   

 
OVERVIEW, ANALYSIS

The Turn of the Tortoise: The Challenge and Promise of India’s FutureThe Turn of the Tortoise: The Challenge and Promise of India’s Future
By TN Ninan
Penguin, 2015
  The Intelligent Person’s Guide to LiberalizationThe Intelligent Person’s Guide to Liberalization
By Amit Bhaduri and Deepak Nayyar
Penguin, 1996
  Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian EconomyRestart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy
By Mihir Sharma
Random House, 2015
 
India: The Emerging GiantIndia: The Emerging Giant
By Arvind Panagariya
Oxford University Press, 2011
  India Unbound: from Independence to the Global Information ageIndia Unbound: from Independence to the Global Information age
By Gurcharan Das
Penguin, 2000/2015
  Rebooting India: Realizing a Billion AspirationsRebooting India: Realizing a Billion Aspirations
By Nandan Nilekani and Viral Shah
Penguin, 2015

 
OUTSIDER VIEW

ImplosionImplosion
By John Elliott
Harper India, 2014
  India: The Road AheadIndia: The Road Ahead
By Mark Tully
Rider, 2012

 
DIGGING DEEPER

India’s Emerging Economy: Performance and Prospects in the 1990s and BeyondIndia’s Emerging Economy: Performance and Prospects in the 1990s and Beyond
Edited by Kaushik Basu
Oxford University Press, 2005
  India’s Economic Reforms and Development: Essays for Manmohan SinghIndia’s Economic Reforms and Development: Essays for Manmohan Singh
Edited by Isher Judge Ahluwalia and IMD Little
Oxford University Press, 2012 (2e)

 
BACKGROUNDER

India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest DemocracyIndia After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy
By Ramachandra Guha
Picador India, 2008
  India: A Million Mutinies NowIndia: A Million Mutinies Now
By VS Naipaul
Picador, 1990

 
THE OTHER VIEW

The Face You Were Afraid to See: Essays on the Indian EconomyThe Face You Were Afraid to See: Essays on the Indian Economy
By Amit Bhaduri
Penguin, 2009
  Everybody Loves a Good DroughtEverybody Loves a Good Drought
By P Sainath
Penguin, 2000
  Looking Away: Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in New IndiaLooking Away: Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in New India
By Harsh Mander
Speaking Tiger, 2015






Apart from our own selection of titles, we invited economists and journalists to name a few of the best books on economic reforms. Here are their recommendations:

 

Jean DrezeJean Dreze Economist

The Economy of India: Global Challenge for the Century
By Jean-Philippe Boillot
Gyan Publishing House, 2008

Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay: Assessing the Economic Rise of China and India
By Pranab Bardhan
Princeton University Press, 2012

Economic reforms and Growth in India
Edited by Pulapre Balakrishnan
Orient BlackSwan, 2011
 
Pulapre BalakrishnanPulapre Balakrishnan Economist

An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions
By Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen
Penguin, 2013

Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries
By Arvind Panagariya and Jagdish Bhagwati Harper Collins, 2014

Economic Reforms and Growth in India
Edited by Pulpare Balkrishnan
Orient BlackSwan, 2011
 
Reetika KheraReetika Khera Economist

India: Development and Participation
By Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen
Oxford University Press, 2002 (2e)

An Uncertain Glory, India and its Contradictions
By Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen
Penguin, 2013
 
Shankkar AiyarShankkar Aiyar Economic Journalist

Accidental India
By Shankkar Aiyar
Aleph Book Company, 2012

India’s Political Economy 1947-2004
By Francine R Frankel
Oxford University Press, 2005 (2e)

India: Macroeconomics and Political Economy, 1964-1991
By Vijay Joshi and IMD Little
World Bank Publications, 1994
 
Vinay SitapatiVinay Sitapati Commentator, biographer of PV Narasimha Rao

To the Brink and Back: India’s 1991 Story
By Jairam Ramesh
Rupa Publications India, 2015

Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries
By Arvind Panagariya and Jagdish Bhagwati
Harper Collins, 2014


Democratic Politics and Economic Reform in India
By Rob Jenkins
Cambridge University Press, 2000

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