[Assam] From the AT

[Chan Mahanta]

Saw the following in today's AT about " Noted American economist Dr 
James E Hartley ----".


Could not find anything in the article that could draw my attention 
as something from a "noted economist". But I realize my own 
shortcomings in the subject. So I looked up Google, which, 
surprisingly, did not produce a single reference. That led me to look 
up Mount Holyoke College where I found more about Dr. Hartley, which 
I am forwarding on the next mail.

cm






Insurgency hits NE growth
By Anujata D Talukdar
   GUWAHATI, Nov 10 - Noted American economist Dr James E Hartley 
today said there is little scope for the North East to progress 
economically unless insurgency in the region is controlled. He said 
investors would shy away from the region unless the law and order 
situation improves.

Dr Hartley, who is touring Guwahati and Shillong, meeting students 
and teachers and taking part in discussions and seminars, told The 
Assam Tribune in an exclusive chat that there is no doubt that 
insurgency in the North East "causes problems in economic growth".

"As long as there is a situation of strife and violence growth does 
not happen. People are reluctant to invest. Insurgency is bad for 
economic growth," said the associate professor of Economics in the 
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts (US).

Dr Hartley rejected the hypothesis, advocated by many experts, that 
lack of economic development in the region is the root cause of 
insurgency in the North East. He argued that there are many parts of 
India where there has been no economic development but there has been 
no insurgency there. "Insurgency cannot be justified by this. Blasts, 
like the ones in Guwahati last Sunday that claimed innocent lives, 
are not going to bring development."

The scholar, said development would come when there is infusion of 
new technologies in industry and agriculture, proper law and order, 
literacy and better infrastructure. He said it is not enough that the 
region is rich in resources. "Having a lot of resources does not help 
to grow. There are a lot of countries that have seen rapid growth 
despite lacking resources. On the other hand there are countries that 
have not gone ahead in spite of being resource rich. That is because 
there is also a need for technology and proper exploitation of 
resources."

Dr Hartley said the North East is lagging behind because the Centre 
neglected it for the past several decades. He said the centralised 
socialist government did not succeed in bringing in much development 
and economic growth before the reforms process began. "For a long 
time now lots of decisions have been centred around big cities. Now 
the North East is in the focus."

Pointing out that the North East's economy is still largely based on 
agriculture, Dr Hartley said every society in the world started off 
as rural economies but at some point they start growing. 'The North 
East is not that much on a growth path. Guwahati is starting to get a 
new lease of life. It looks like it is changing. But like elsewhere 
in the country, the rural areas of the state are still to get the 
real taste of development." He, however, said there is nothing 
abnormal in the process since cities act as engines of growth.

He said new technology should be introduced in the agriculture 
sector, which is far too crowded. The new technologies would render 
many people unnecessary in the fields. To absorb these people, 
industries are necessary. He said there should be the right 
environment to attract investments. It need not be in mega 
industries. Ideally, the North East should go for small-scale 
industries, he felt.

Dr Hartley expressed concern that there is still a big gap in primary 
education in the country, including the North East. "Primary 
education is not widespread enough. There is need to concentrate in 
this sector. It is more important than churning out doctors and 
engineers," he said.

Speaking of immigration, the economist said on the one hand it proved 
that India is better off economically than the land from which the 
immigrants come. On the other hand, however, the immigrants, who are 
mostly from the lower strata of society, come in and start working at 
the lowest levels of jobs, displacing the locals. "It is much harder 
to get growth in such a situation," he stated.

Dr Hartley said India is on the right development track but economic 
growth is still slow compared to the demands of the people. At the 
current rate of growth, it would be decades before the benefits of 
growth reach the people in the lowest strata. "In the socialist era, 
the politicians were taking economic decisions. It is time the 
decision-making is left to those in business," he said.

Dr Hartley has a Ph D degree from the University of California, 
Davis. He received the Phi Beta Kappa award in 1987. He was Fulbright 
visiting lecturer at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata in 
2001-02 and has participated and presented papers at prestigious 
conferences in the US, UK, Europe, India and Nepal since 1998. He has 
written numerous articles in scholarly journals and his major 
publications include, The Representative Agent in Macroeconomics 
(1997) and Real Business Cycles: A Reader (1998), which he co-edited 
with Kevin Hoover and Kevin Salyer.
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