Education Not A Panacea

THE AUTHOR’S ARGUMENT THAT EDUCATION ALONE CAN FUEL GROWTH IS NOT FULLY CONVINCING.

- Subhash Sharma

THE MERE TITLE OF THE BOOK is intriguing enough to pick it up. And the name of the author only goads you to open and read it. If you are expecting Surjit S. Bhalla’s latest release The New Wealth of Nations to take the arguments in Adam Smith’s 1776 magnum opus An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations – shortened as The Wealth of Nations – further, you’d be making a mistake. The former has adorned bookshelves of economics students across the world for a long time. Comparing the two would mean injustice to this book and to Bhalla.

The primary argument Bhalla makes in the book revolves around education. He says that it is a vital fulcrum to increase income, create wealth, reduce inequality, empower women, create middle class and democratise the elite. This is actually a very complex assertion to make, because growth is a byproduct of the combination of all these.