Breaking the Mold

The new path for economic development that India must create.

The whole world has a stake in India's future, and that future hinges on whether India can develop its economy and deliver for its population—now the world's largest—while staying democratic. India's economy has overtaken the United Kingdom's to become the fifth-largest in the world, but it is still only one-fifth the size of China's, and India's economic growth is too slow to provide jobs for millions of its ambitious youth. Blocking India's current path are intense global competition in low-skilled manufacturing, increasing protectionism and automation, and the country's majoritarian streak in politics. In Breaking the Mold, Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba show why and how India needs to blaze a new path if it's to succeed.

India diverged long ago from the standard development model, the one followed by China—from agriculture to low-skilled manufacturing, then high-skilled manufacturing and, finally, services—by leapfrogging intermediate steps. India must not turn back now. Rajan and Lamba explain how India can accelerate growth by prioritising human capital, expanding opportunities in high-skilled services, encouraging entrepreneurship, and strengthening rather than weakening its democratic traditions. It can chart a path based on ideas and creativity even at its early stage of development.

Filled with vivid examples and written with incisive candour, Breaking the Mold shows how India can break free of the stumbling blocks of the past and embrace the enormous possibilities of the future.

'There are no better guides to how [India] might best leverage its potential—and manage the obstacles... [Rajan and Lamba] expertly devise a new growth model for India, offering detailed recommendations for reforming the country's industrial strategy, healthcare, education and democracy... This is a novel, well-argued and solidly evidenced pitch for India's future... A must-read for anyone keen to understand a nation that will play a big part in all our economic futures.'—Tej Parikh, Financial Times

'[Rajan and Lamba] sketch out a vision that amounts to an entirely new model of development for India—one that they argue is better suited to its strengths than its current model.'—The Economist

'A forthright accounting of the nation's many faults and enormous unused potential i.e., human capital... A sobering economic study packed with useful ideas.'—Kirkus Reviews