COVID-19: Nobel Prize-winning economist terms India as "poster child of what not to do"

New Delhi: Claiming that India had not done well in its anti-COVID-19 efforts, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz on Tuesday called India the "poster child of what not to do" during a session with Indian business leaders and economists.

During an interaction organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry's (Ficci) West Bengal state council and moderated by its chairman Rudra Chatterjee, Stiglitz claimed that the policy of lockdown, as well as economic initiatives that were taken to offset the damage to the country's finances, have all been massive failures.

Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor who has been the chief economist at the World Bank from 1997-2000, said that the hastily imposed lockdown was a wrong move and the ensuing migrant crisis might have actually made the situation worse. 

"How are people going to live, a large number of people moving across the country. One could not have imagined anything worse for spreading the disease," he said.

Stiglitz further said that to get the economy of the country back on track, the "politics of division" will have to go. According to Stiglitz, "tolerance" has been one of the cornerstones of India's economic successes, and pandemic had proven one that "you need politics of solidarity." 

Claiming that Indian Prime Minister Modi has tried to divide the country on the basis of religion, Stiglitz said that this "fundamental division" will weaken India forever.

Stiglitz further panned the Indian PM for his self-reliance motto, stating "no country can be fully self reliant" in the current global order where raw materials or technology are often imported. He said that such a move is something one would expect from authoritarian regimes.

"If you can't get resources, one way of dealing with it is, raise taxes on the very rich – you have a lot of billionaires in India — and if you spend that money well, it actually stimulates the economy," he said.

Stating India cannot control the economic aftermath if it cannot control the pandemic, Stiglitz said that money has to be channeled to minimize the severity of the virus outbreak.

He further added that the United States and India could basically print money as "a case for spending money is compelling." He further added that money needed to be targeted to the right places.