Naqvi, Syed Nawab Haider. Development Economics: A New Paradigm. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 1993.208 pp.Indian Rupees 200.00.

In this book Professor Naqvi expresses his dissatisfaction with the attitude of economists, in general, towards the subject of development economics. His book rejects “the viewpoint that development economics is some brand of applied economics”. From Professor Naqvi’s perspective, development economics is a legitimate subject in its own right and should not be summarily treated as though its analysis can be handled by the ordinary tools of general economics. It should stand with welfare economics, econometrics, international trade, industrial organisation, or labour economics as a separate subject with some particular premises, conclusions, and methodology. Development economics, according to Professor Naqvi, should be based on ethical considerations of such phenomena as poverty, distribution, and unemployment. In the study of general economic equilibrium, scholars have shown how the existence theorems establish conditions for Pareto optimality, but their assumptions are that income distribution is given, that technique is given, and that all conditions for perfect competition are met. While these are beautiful theorems with welfare economic implications, they do not serve development economics well because technological progress, evolving income distributions, and many market imperfections are typical features of the very process of development.