Leadership styles, policy choices, and economic impact of finance ministers from 1998 to 2014.
How coalition governments influenced economic decisions, requiring finance ministers to navigate complex political negotiations while implementing reforms.
Unlike previous eras, this period had fewer finance ministers (only four) but saw significant economic transformations including the roll-out of economic policy measures to face up to global and domestic crises.
India’s Finance Ministers III: Different Strokes (1998-2014) by A.K. Bhattacharya highlights the significant difference the four ministers made to the policy evolution of the government and, thus, left an indelible mark on the psyche of Indian citizens. A fascinating account of economic policymaking, the book analyses the role of India’s finance ministers in the management of the Indian economy during the era of coalition politics.
This is the third volume in the series of books on India’s finance ministers, which capture the story of India’s economic policies through the lens of the Union government’s budget initiatives since 1947.
The first volume covered the period of thirty years from India’s Independence to the end of the Emergency in 1977. The second volume covered the twenty-one years from the formation of the first non-Congress government in India in 1977 to 1998, when the short tenure of the coalition government led by United Front ended.
The present volume covers a period of sixteen years that saw just four finance ministers present Union budgets and steer their respective government’s economic policies through them.
While certain economic policies followed a pattern of continuity, others marked significant shifts in approach, reflecting changing priorities, global influences, and domestic political realities. It attempts to measure the impact of their decisions not only on India’s economic system but also on its political system, and to what extent their decisions were influenced by their socio-economic backgrounds. Foregrounded in rigorous research and full of interesting anecdotes, the book is the first in-depth account of the crucial role the finance minister plays in the functioning of India’s economy.
About The Author
A.K. BHATTACHARYA-AKB to every journalist-set the bar for business reporting as the chief of bureau at the Economic Times in the early 1990s, when economic reforms raged. He had a ringside view to many other disruptions, creative and otherwise, during his four decades in journalism, a journey that started when he switched careers after a year of teaching. AKB then went on to become the editor of the Pioneer and Business Standard.
It is scheduled to release across the country on 31st March.
