India is justifiably proud of acquiring the mantle of the ‘fastest growing economy in the world’. There is the risk, however, of succumbing to ‘growth fetishism’. ‘Official India’ seems to subscribe to the view that the country can – and must – continue to grow at 7 to 8 percent per annum for decades and even aspire to double-digit growth. This uncritical acceptance of a growth target belies the dissident views of formidable critics who argue the case for a secular growth slow-down as extrapolated from well-known empirical regularities. There are sound reasons to temper the case of endless and rapid growth.
Guarding against growth fetishism: The case of India
Reflections on development and governance 
I was very fortunate to attend the seminar where Prof. Yan Islam presented a paper analyzing India’s fast economic growth and where he also pointed out several analytical anomalies that according to him, may have rendered some of the projections somewhat over optimistic. However, my concerns are not so much the actual figures that one way or another do indicate a faster economic growth for India but more importantly, how this is impacting upon its people and the society!
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