Essays in economics and other cheerful themes : a dismal scientist's occasional reflections of the world around him

**Essays in Economics and Other Cheerful Themes** is a collection of pieces on economy, polity and society, written by a social scientist over a number of years. The book addresses conceptual and empirical issues in development at both national and global levels. The philosophical bases of these issues are sought to be addressed in relatively non-technical and accessible terms. The book also makes space for essays that deal with less solemn phenomena, such as cricket, film, the conduct of academic institutions, and the esoteric excesses of scholarly writing in the social sciences and humanities. The book is something of a professional economist’s ramble through territory that is both familiar and important to him, but undertaken in a spirit of some leisureliness which the author hopes will attract a readership beyond that, solely, of fellow-professionals. Written primarily with the non-specialist reader in mind, these essays aim to be of interest to younger students, policy-makers, and involved and interested ‘lay’ citizens. Cover 1 Contents 8 Preface 12 Acknowledgements 16 Introduction: A Brief Guideto the Book 18 PART I: Of Home and the World 26 1 - Well-being and the World Today 30 2 - Global Poverty, Inequality, and Aid Flows: A Rough Guide to Some Simple Justice 39 3 - The Status of the Child in India 82 4 - Human Development and Human Rights 98 5 - 'Inclusive Development’ and the Quintile Income Statistic 106 6 - Reprisal without Rectitude 120 7 - Moral Catastrophes and Immoral Reasoning 124 8 - Looking Back and Ahead 132 9 - Examining the ‘Creamy Layer’ Principle 136 PART II - Between Economics and Philosophy 152 10 - Headcount Poverty Comparisons 154 11 - Thinking Through Justice 157 12 - Are Egalitarians Really Vulnerable to the Levelling-down Objection and the Divided World Example? 184 13 - Can We Possibly Subscribe to Both Liberty and Equality at One and the Same Time? 194 PART III - Miscellaneous Mistakes 202 14 - A Curmudgeon’s Complaints 204 15 - Jai Ho, Jeeves! 218 16 - Language and Representation or, More Modestly, Mathematical Economics and Poverty 222 17 - Writing Economics in Exactly 300 Words:Two Samples in theTradition of J.B. Morton (Beachcomber) 225 About the Author 229 Content: Cover Contents Preface Acknowledgements Introduction: A Brief Guideto the Book PART I: Of Home and the World 1 -- Well-being and the World Today 2 -- Global Poverty, Inequality, and Aid Flows: A Rough Guide to Some Simple Justice 3 -- The Status of the Child in India 4 -- Human Development and Human Rights 5 -- 'Inclusive Development' and the Quintile Income Statistic 6 -- Reprisal without Rectitude 7 -- Moral Catastrophes and Immoral Reasoning 8 -- Looking Back and Ahead 9 -- Examining the 'Creamy Layer' Principle PART II -- Between Economics and Philosophy. 10 -- Headcount Poverty Comparisons11 -- Thinking Through Justice 12 -- Are Egalitarians Really Vulnerable to the Levelling-down Objection and the Divided World Example? 13 -- Can We Possibly Subscribe to Both Liberty and Equality at One and the Same Time? PART III -- Miscellaneous Mistakes 14 -- A Curmudgeon's Complaints 15 -- Jai Ho, Jeeves! 16 -- Language and Representation or, More Modestly, Mathematical Economics and Poverty 17 -- Writing Economics in Exactly 300 Words:Two Samples in theTradition of J.B. Morton (Beachcomber) About the Author. This book is a collection of some of the relatively less specialized work done by a professional economist over a career that has otherwise been largely devoted to writing essentially formal academic tracts. The essays pertain largely to themes in deprivation and disparity perhaps understandably so given that the author is himself an economist from a developing country. Apart from essays that might be regarded as falling rather strictly within the purview of an economist's compass, the book also contains occasional pieces (including some in a spirit of some levity) inspired by every-day concerns of a social, cultural, or political nature. Book jacket