The Next Phase of Structural Transformation — I-nomics

By Piya Mahtaney

Summary

This Forum of Free Enterprise booklet reprints an article by the economist, author and journalist Piya Mahtaney titled “The Next Phase of Structural Transformation — I-Nomics (I — Investment, Innovation and Institutions),” written in the wake of the 2016 Brexit vote. The booklet opens with an A. D. Shroff epigraph, a memorial dedication to the late Chartered Accountant Shailesh Kapadia, a note that it is sponsored by the Shailesh Kapadia Memorial Trust, and an editorial Introduction signed by Sunil S. Bhandare, who frames Mahtaney’s piece as a corrective to the prevailing pessimism about the world economy.

In the rendered pages, Mahtaney argues that the preceding era of globalization was incomplete because rapid financial and trade liberalization was not matched by a globalized expansion of per-capita purchasing power. She contends that the post-crisis slowdown is best understood not as a deficit of economic growth but as a series of “errors of omission” — missed opportunities for productive investment in social and physical infrastructure, health, education and skills. Drawing on the underwhelming progress on the Millennium Development Goals, she distinguishes underdevelopment caused by a genuine lack of resources from underdevelopment produced by a vicious circle of poor governance, weak investment and skewed growth.

The “I-nomics” of the title refers to a multi-pronged prescription built around three pillars — Investment, Innovation and Institutions: addressing unmet social and physical infrastructure needs, promoting innovation and invention, and building institutions adequate for effective governance and efficient public administration. Mahtaney insists that structural transformation is not a quick fix, cannot be reduced to a one-size-fits-all formula, and will not follow from rapid technological advance or trade expansion alone. The rendered pages cover the front matter and the early-to-middle portion of the article (through printed page 17); the closing pages of the article and any colophon were not in this chunk.

Key points

• An FFE booklet reprinting a single article by Piya Mahtaney, economist/author/journalist who teaches at St. Xavier’s, Mumbai.

• Written after the 2016 Brexit vote, which the author cites as emblematic of uncertainty about world economic prospects.

• Core thesis: the earlier globalization was incomplete because financial/trade liberalization was not accompanied by a globalized rise in per-capita purchasing power.

• Reframes the post-crisis slowdown as ‘errors of omission’ — missed productive investment — rather than a simple lack of growth.

• Uses the underachievement of the Millennium Development Goals (set in 2000) as evidence of inadequate productive investment.

• ‘I-nomics’ = Investment, Innovation and Institutions, the three pillars of the proposed next phase of structural transformation.

• Rejects ‘one size fits all’ formulas and warns that technology or trade expansion alone will not deliver transformation.

• Front matter includes an A. D. Shroff epigraph and an editorial Introduction by Sunil S. Bhandare; sponsored by the Shailesh Kapadia Memorial Trust.

Generated by the v1.5 extraction pipeline. Awaiting editorial review.