is it the strategy of maligning the speaker's image but not refuting his arguments?
Umesh
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Saw the following in today's AT about " Noted American economist Dr James E Hartley ----".Could not find anything in the article that could draw my attention as something from a "noted economist". But I realize my own shortcomings in the subject. So I looked up Google, which, surprisingly, did not produce a single reference. That led me to look up Mount Holyoke College where I found more about Dr. Hartley, which I am forwarding on the next mail.cmInsurgency hits NE growth
By Anujata D TalukdarGUWAHATI, Nov 10 - Noted American economist Dr James E Hartley today said there is little scope for the North East to progress economically unless insurgency in the region is controlled. He said investors would shy away from the region unless the law and order situation improves.
Dr Hartley, who is touring Guwahati and Shillong, meeting students and teachers and taking part in discussions and seminars, told The Assam Tribune in an exclusive chat that there is no doubt that insurgency in the North East "causes problems in economic growth".
"As long as there is a situation of strife and violence growth does not happen. People are reluctant to invest. Insurgency is bad for economic growth," said the associate professor of Economics in the Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts (US).
Dr Hartley rejected the hypothesis, advocated by many experts, that lack of economic development in the region is the root cause of insurgency in the North East. He argued that there are many parts of India where there has been no economic development but there has been no insurgency there. "Insurgency cannot be justified by this. Blasts, like the ones in Guwahati last Sunday that claimed innocent lives, are not going to bring development."
The scholar, said development would come when there is infusion of new technologies in industry and agriculture, proper law and order, literacy and better infrastructure. He said it is not enough that the region is rich in resources. "Having a lot of resources does not help to grow. There are a lot of countries that have seen rapid growth despite lacking resources. On the other hand there are countries that have not gone ahead in spite of being resource rich. That is because there is also a need for technology and proper exploitation of resources."
Dr Hartley said the North East is lagging behind because the Centre neglected it for the past several decades. He said the centralised socialist government did not succeed in bringing in much development and economic growth before the reforms process began. "For a long time now lots of decisions have been centred around big cities. Now the North East is in the focus."
Pointing out that the North East's economy is still largely based on agriculture, Dr Hartley said every society in the world started off as rural economies but at some point they start growing. 'The North East is not that much on a growth path. Guwahati is starting to get a new lease of life. It looks like it is changing. But like elsewhere in the country, the rural areas of the state are still to get the real taste of development." He, however, said there is nothing abnormal in the process since cities act as engines of growth.
He said new technology should be introduced in the agriculture sector, which is far too crowded. The new technologies would render many people unnecessary in the fields. To absorb these people, industries are necessary. He said there should be the right environment to attract investments. It need not be in mega industries. Ideally, the North East should go for small-scale industries, he felt.
Dr Hartley expressed concern that there is still a big gap in primary education in the country, including the North East. "Primary education is not widespread enough. There is need to concentrate in this sector. It is more important than churning out doctors and engineers," he said.
Speaking of immigration, the economist said on the one hand it proved that India is better off economically than the land from which the immigrants come. On the other hand, however, the immigrants, who are mostly from the lower strata of society, come in and start working at the lowest levels of jobs, displacing the locals. "It is much harder to get growth in such a situation," he stated._______________________________________________
Dr Hartley said India is on the right development track but economic growth is still slow compared to the demands of the people. At the current rate of growth, it would be decades before the benefits of growth reach the people in the lowest strata. "In the socialist era, the politicians were taking economic decisions. It is time the decision-making is left to those in business," he said.
Dr Hartley has a Ph D degree from the University of California, Davis. He received the Phi Beta Kappa award in 1987. He was Fulbright visiting lecturer at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata in 2001-02 and has participated and presented papers at prestigious conferences in the US, UK, Europe, India and Nepal since 1998. He has written numerous articles in scholarly journals and his major publications include, The Representative Agent in Macroeconomics (1997) and Real Business Cycles: A Reader (1998), which he co-edited with Kevin Hoover and Kevin Salyer.
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park,
(Washington D.C. Metro Region)
MD 20740
1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
website: www.gse.harvard.edu/iep
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
