In the first development decade of the Third World countries,
the growth of the GNP has been beyond the expectations of their policy
makers. However, the very idea of growth is debatable mainly because of
the neglect of the dis¬tribution aspect. It is realised that without
redistribution policies, one-third of the Third World population would
not benefit from growth. Does equitable distribution mean lower growth?
Is it possible to achieve both an equitable distribution and a growth of
the GNP simultaneously? How should a policy package for redistribution
be prepared so that it has the least depressing effect on growth? What
problem does a developing country face in adopting redis¬tribution
policies ? The book under review attempts to answer these questions. The
general theme of the book is that distributional objectives should be
treated as an integral part of the overall development strategy. The
book, which consists of 13 chapters contributed singly or jointly by the
authors (the only outsider being D.C. Rao who has contributed Chapter
VII), is divided into three parts, namely: Reorientation of Policy,
Quantification and Modeling, and Annex and Bibliography. The first eight
chapters are devoted to Reorien¬tation of Policy while the remaining
five chapters are devoted to Quantification and Modeling. The Annex
gives the experiences of India, Cuba, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, South Korea
and Taiwan with redistribution and growth. A com¬prehensive bibliography
completes the book.
