The book provides on in-depth analysis of numerous issues which are being currently debated with regard to India’s external economic transactions. These include import control and liberalization, the liquidity gap in India’s balance of payments; the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on trade; external constraints on domestic economic policies; debt indicators and international credit ratings; and capital account convertibility. The last chapter discusses the mechanisms of surplus creation and transfers from India during the colonial period and provides a framework to understand similar transfers from developing countries in the present-day context. Professor Sen observes that external trade and payments do not necessarily lead to growth in developing nations. This is because such transaction do not always generate net inflows of real resources from abroad. Instead, she argues that integration with global markets may unleash uncontrolled volatility in a developing country such as India. The author advocates positive regulation and surveillance by the state to stabilize the domestic economy in the face of the instability which is a likely consequence of gloablization and of the implementation of certain conditionalities often demanded by the international community. Additionally, this analysis of India’s experience provides lessons for other developing countries which are in the process of opening up their economies to global markets. Dealing with a large number of issues of current concern, this insightful book will be of considerable interest to students and scholars of international trade and finance, India’s economy, development studies and political economy as also to planners and policy makers.
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