Few scholars have left more of a mark in the field of development economics than Amartya Sen. Awarded the 1998 Nobel prize in economic scie...
Few scholars have left more of a mark in the field of development economics than Amartya Sen. Awarded the 1998 Nobel prize in economic science, Sen’s work reoriented mainstream economic thought and diagnosis on issues such as collective decision-making, welfare economics, measuring poverty, gender inequality and social justice.
Amongst his more popular works, Sen is well-regarded for his work on famine and for explaining what causes them. Just as we associate Adam Smith with the phrase “invisible hand”, Joseph Schumpeter with “creative destruction”, Sen is famous for his assertation that “famines do not occur in democracies”.
“No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy”, he argued in his book: Development as Freedom. Sen grounded this explanation in the fact that because well-functioning democratic governments “have to win elections and face public criticism, they have a strong incentive to undertake measures to avert famines and other catastrophes”.
Covid-19 and India
What is presently happening in India amid the wrath of a second Covid-19 wave may push us hard to reflect on Sen’s assertions. This is not a famine, but in effect, it is surely India’s worst catastrophe since Independence – measurable in countless deaths.
Images of people running from pillar to post to find a...
