More than historians or Sanskrit scholars, finance ministers of independent India can take some credit for making Kautilya’s Arthashastra popular among ordinary Indians. In their Budget speeches, quite a few of them have referred to Kautilya’s policy on taxes as enunciated in Arthashastra. However, after announcing how they have been inspired by such thinking, the finance ministers have gone ahead to implement their own tax measures. In the process, Arthashastra, for most modern-day Indians, has been reduced to a text that mandates what should be taxed and how. This book by Thomas R. Trautmann helps dispel that incorrect notion.

><table width='100%' border=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: #0253B7;'>The business of governance</td></tr><tr><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11px; '>Finance ministers love to quote from Arthashastra in their budget speeches to justify their tax proposals. But this accessible translation of the ancient treatise shows that they haven

The business of governance

Finance ministers love to quote from Arthashastra in their budget speeches to justify their tax proposals. But this accessible translation of the ancient treatise shows that they havent quite got the complexities of Kautilyas message

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