The Economists Who Shaped Development
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: KALPANA KOCHHAR
- Published: December 2, 2025
Core thesis and scope
- The book is an intellectual and policy history told through the lives and accomplishments of six South Asian economists: Amartya Sen, Jagdish Bhagwati, Manmohan Singh, Mahbub Ul Haq, Rehman Sobhan, and Lal Jayawardene.
- Engerman argues these economists humanized and democratized development thinking while often operating from within technocratic institutions.
- The book situates historical debates in the context of contemporary challenges: inequality, debt, and climate crisis.
Major findings and analytical points
- Democratization of Bretton Woods institutions:
- The “Apostles” pushed—often from within—to democratize the IMF and World Bank and to channel new resources to poorer countries.
- This historical push continues in present debates over developing economies’ voice and voting rights at the Bretton Woods institutions and over special drawing rights (SDRs).
- Broadening the concept of development:
- Mahbub Ul Haq pushed the World Bank to shift from a singular focus on GDP to a broader concept of human development, including poverty alleviation and human welfare.
- The Human Development Index (HDI), born of Haq’s and Sen’s collaboration, remains central to how the development community measures progress.
- Measures like the HDI could inspire new metrics for climate equity or social inclusion today.
- Linking national and global inequality:
- Engerman traces how Sen, Haq, and Sobhan shifted focus from national to global inequality—linking redistributive justice with reform of international finance.
- This linkage echoes in current conversations about global inequality traps, debt justice, and the need for redistribution through SDRs or loss-and-damage funds.
- Southern institution-building and capacity:
- Rehman Sobhan’s institution building in Bangladesh illustrates how Southern think tanks can improve the quality of domestic policymaking.
- Sobhan’s Centre for Policy Dialogue launched the Independent Review of Bangladesh’s Development in 1995 as a domestic counterweight to analysis produced by international financial institutions.
- The Delhi School of Economics strengthened Southern scholarship and trained cadres that later ran ministries and held senior positions at the IMF, World Bank, and other international institutions.
- Tension between democratization and technocracy:
- While these economists broadened development thinking and helped democratize global institutions, they also became part of a technocratic elite.
- Engerman’s portraits raise the question: Who defines global development expertise today—Washington Consensus economists, or more dispersed local communities?
Policy-relevant implications and suggestions (as implied by the review)
- Reinforce developing economies’ voice and voting rights at Bretton Woods institutions, building on historical efforts by figures such as Sen, Haq, and Singh.
- Consider broader metrics beyond GDP—following the legacy of Haq and Sen’s HDI—for assessing climate equity and social inclusion.
- Support Southern think tanks and postgraduate institutions to strengthen domestic policymaking and create cadres for international institutions.
- Reexamine mechanisms for redistribution in international finance, including SDRs and loss-and-damage funds, in light of global inequality linkages.
Source: F&D Magazine review by KALPANA KOCHHAR, December 2025 — review of David C. Engerman’s Apostles of Development: Six Economists and the World They Made (Oxford University Press, 2025, 576 pp., $39.95).
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- The Economists Who Shaped Development