Amartya and the 'Who'

Michael Spence, recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize for economics and Professor of Economics at Stern School of Business, New York University, made his stand clear on the Jagdish Bhagwati-Amartya Sen debate that roiled the media a few months ago. In the capital recently for a lecture, he was asked whose model he supported, Sen or Bhagwati's. "Amartya and who?" he replied deliberately. If anyone was left in further doubt of where he stood, he answered the question in more detail later, unequivocally saying Sen is partially right in attaching more weight to distribution for growth.