1101 | The Art and Science of Economic Policy

How does this course relate to the programme curriculum – does it develop on a prior course in the programme or is the foundational or standalone course?

It is a foundational course on the role of the state, the problems of public policy in economics, why state failure has happened repeatedly in India, some elements of economic and political science that is valuable in addressing the problems, and the knowledge built out of intellectual work and practical experience in India on doing better. It is deeply connected to administrative law.

Describe how you have approached the course. What have you included/excluded and why? Choice of materials – primary or secondary readings / case law;
The main course material is “In service of the Republic: The art and science of economic policy” by Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah, Penguin Allen Lane, 2019. This is a successful book, e.g. it was in Bloomberg’s global list of top
20 books of 2020 (it was nominated for this by N. Narayana Murthy).

Describe your pedagogical method: lectures, socratic discussion, seminar style discussion, response papers or group work; any field work;

Lectures + discussion + class papers.

Describe the layout of the course: module structure and sequence

There are about 40 chapters in the book, and roughly these will be discussed at the rate of one hour per chapter.