The new wealth of nations is education by John Cheeran

The new wealth of nations is education by John Cheeran

Topic: The new wealth of nations is education

Writter:  John Cheeran

Publish Date: 19 December 2017

Published on : The Times of India

The new wealth of nations is education

If there is a freakonomist in India it is none other than Surjit S Bhalla. Bhalla is a purveyor of uncommon wisdom that provokes you, especially if you are a bleeding heart liberal. And to say that Bhalla is a confident and ambitious man would be an understatement. He does not hold back his punches and the title of his new book in itself is enough to irk many of his peers—The New Wealth of Nations (Published by Simon & Schuster India, Pages 207, Price Rs 599)—as if he is the Adam Smith of our times. But times, they are changing, that is what Bhalla is singing.

In The New Wealth of Nations, Bhalla takes on Thomas Piketty and his ilk and points out that contrary to the popular notion, inequality is declining in both advanced economies and developing nations, including India. And his central argument is that this has been made possible by education. Make no mistake, the new wealth of nations is not gold, or land, but education.

Bhalla discusses the course of the wealth of nations over the last three hundred years and the important role played by education in helping the poor countries move towards convergence with the rich countries.

Bhalla also reminds us that there was less of an inequality in the world three hundred years ago because everyone was relatively poor. In 1500, income in China and India was close to the world average; two hundred years later, in 1700, the average was 10 percent lower; in 1890, aided by the heavy presence of colonialism in India, the average became less than half, says Bhalla. But significantly, in 1870, China had 100% illiterates and India, 99.6%. (In 1700 and before, there was zero education wealth inequality.)

And he adds another element to the inequality debate by pointing out the importance Jews give to the pursuit of education. The reason Jews invested so much in education was that this was the only asset they could flee with when they faced persecution. Not merely that.

Bhalla adds that in stark contrast to the requirement of reading the Torah by the high priests of Judaism, the high priests of India, the Brahmins, ensured that no one besides them would be able to read any of the many holy books that constitute Hinduism. May be that would throw some light on India’s continuing struggle with illiteracy and income inequality.

Bhalla bats for globalization and argues that it has helped the poorest to increase their incomes at a faster rate than the rich, justifying political philosopher John Rawls’s Theory of Justice. Bhalla mocks the poor country intellectuals (there are many in India) who supports the rich, elitist anti-globalization movement saying they have not really emerged from their feudal cocoon.

Over the last 36 years (1981-2016) the rich population has expanded its incomes at a 1.45% rate and the poor world rate of expansion of income has been at 4.1% per annum. Bhalla calls this a revolution and says it was made possible by education. The agent provocateur that he is, Bhalla, unlike Shashi Tharoor, finds a few positives in British colonialism.

He says that despite having no middle class in 1947 if India had adopted democracy it was owing to the heritage of being a British colony and the ethnic and cultural diversity of the land than the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru (read the Congress party). Such Bhallastic views add to the New Wealth of Nations. Read it, you, of course, are free to disagree.

Bhalla is a reader’s delight in the way he organizes his arguments and presents them in a clear, simple and elegant style. He ensures that he is not opaque and takes you to the nub of the matter in a few short sentences. Bhalla makes his charts, figures and adds up the numbers but befitting a freakonmist, he spices up his tome with an outlier theme—songs.

Each of the 13 chapters in The New Wealth of Nations has a lyrical preface, starting with Bob Dylan and his The Times They Are A-Changing, something that readily hooks a wary reader and keeps him awake, not weary of the hefty subject that he is asked to negotiate with. The New Wealth of Nations sizzles with wit and wisdom and is a great read to end 2017 and welcome another year of promise and prosperity.