{ "title": "The Economists Who Shaped Development", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar", "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar", "overlayPath": "/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar/index.md", "summary": "Portraits show how these pioneering economists humanized and democratized development thinking", "sections": [ { "heading": "Core thesis and scope", "content": "- 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.\n- Engerman argues these economists humanized and democratized development thinking while often operating from within technocratic institutions.\n- The book situates historical debates in the context of contemporary challenges: inequality, debt, and climate crisis." }, { "heading": "Major findings and analytical points", "content": "- Democratization of Bretton Woods institutions:\n - The “Apostles” pushed—often from within—to democratize the IMF and World Bank and to channel new resources to poorer countries.\n - 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).\n- Broadening the concept of development:\n - 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.\n - The Human Development Index (HDI), born of Haq’s and Sen’s collaboration, remains central to how the development community measures progress.\n - Measures like the HDI could inspire new metrics for climate equity or social inclusion today.\n- Linking national and global inequality:\n - Engerman traces how Sen, Haq, and Sobhan shifted focus from national to global inequality—linking redistributive justice with reform of international finance.\n - This linkage echoes in current conversations about global inequality traps, debt justice, and the need for redistribution through SDRs or loss-and-damage funds.\n- Southern institution-building and capacity:\n - Rehman Sobhan’s institution building in Bangladesh illustrates how Southern think tanks can improve the quality of domestic policymaking.\n - 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.\n - 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.\n- Tension between democratization and technocracy:\n - While these economists broadened development thinking and helped democratize global institutions, they also became part of a technocratic elite.\n - Engerman’s portraits raise the question: Who defines global development expertise today—Washington Consensus economists, or more dispersed local communities?" }, { "heading": "Policy-relevant implications and suggestions (as implied by the review)", "content": "- Reinforce developing economies’ voice and voting rights at Bretton Woods institutions, building on historical efforts by figures such as Sen, Haq, and Singh.\n- Consider broader metrics beyond GDP—following the legacy of Haq and Sen’s HDI—for assessing climate equity and social inclusion.\n- Support Southern think tanks and postgraduate institutions to strengthen domestic policymaking and create cadres for international institutions.\n- Reexamine mechanisms for redistribution in international finance, including SDRs and loss-and-damage funds, in light of global inequality linkages.\n\nSource: 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).\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- The Economists Who Shaped Development\n - The Economists Who Shaped Development (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n - The Economists Who Shaped Development (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n\n---\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar/bundle-manifest.json)", "Authors: KALPANA KOCHHAR", "Published: December 2, 2025", "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.", "Democratization of Bretton Woods institutions:", "Broadening the concept of development:", "Linking national and global inequality:", "Southern institution-building and capacity:", "Tension between democratization and technocracy:", "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.", "**The Economists Who Shaped Development**" ], "related": [ { "title": "The Economists Who Shaped Development", "role": "document", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/12/books-kochhar.pdf", "summary": { "path": "/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/12/books-kochhar.pdf.md", "mime": "text/markdown" }, "binary": { "path": "/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/12/books-kochhar.pdf", "mime": "application/pdf" } } ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar/index.md", "json": "/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/12/book-review-the-economists-who-shaped-development-kalpana-kochhar/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-15T20:09:52.564Z" }