Honesty, aesthetics growth contributors

The bureaucracy is not the perfect answer to enforcing contracts by being the third party.

In an interesting deviation from the traditional approach on economic growth, the Survey looks at how honest societies promote development and economic efficiency, as they tend to have a “natural advantage” over others in being the most preferred destination for business and trade.

Predictably, a nation’s success depends on its resources, human capital and economic policies, both fiscal and monetary, it says. It then goes on to bring in an honest society as a key attribute in this process , by adding that such success also depends on “ the cultural and social norms that permeate society”.

The bureaucracy, it says, is not the perfect answer to enforcing contracts by being the third party . “if we try to do it that way, as we have on occasion in India, the result will be a cumbersome bureaucracy, that is unable to deliver.”

The Survey thus offers a simple start to a rather complex developmental problem. It admits, the “science of how these economic-friendly social qualities are acquired is not yet fully understood”. But, says the experience shows that “cleaner” and “aesthetically better maintained” buildings could contribute to less corrupt behaviour.

For instance, says the Survey, New York City’s notoriously high crime rate was controlled, among other things, by cleaning up the city and removing graffiti from the walls. One also sees this in the metro rail system in Delhi. “One sees casual evidence of this in the behaviour of Delhiites using the metro. It has been widely noted that people behave better when they travel on Delhi’s well-maintained metro.”

Adding: “We have a mental inclination not to defile a good ambience through acts of corruption.” Hence, long term development of India will be achieved through these “non-economic foundations of economic prosperity”.