The ultimate scarcity: Overall consumption has stagnated over four years

Economic performance is also affected if large numbers of people are out of work, or at such low levels of income as to force under-consumption, writes T N Ninan

In discussing current macro-economic numbers, most commentators have rightly chosen to view the latest quarterly GDP (gross domestic product) growth number, for April-June, in the context of the economic impact of the lockdown a year earlier on account of Covid. So while growth over that crisis period last year is a handsome 20 per cent, GDP remains about 9 per cent lower than in the year before. But with somewhat tenuous logic, government spokesmen have argued that the growth that has been achieved goes beyond the effect of the “low base” of 2020-21.
 
With greater credibility, they have also