Tulsi Prajna 2001 01

SR No.: 524606
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Shanta Jain, Jagatram Bhattacharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 146
Language: Hindi
Classification: Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India
File Size: 7 MB

Page 130

The criticisms of Marx and later insights of Keynes had some sobering impact on the blatant capitalism. State intervention to correct market failures, setting up of regulatory and market disciplining institutions, institution of social security interventions and capital transfers from rich to poor countires or to disadvantageous regions and groups came to be regarded as acceptable distortions in a free market. But even these virtuous interventions left the incentive mechanism and motivation paradigm rather unchanged. These, therefore, did not touch the core and remained peripheral. How is Mahaveer different ?
Lord Mahaveer was not constrained by the other economists lack of comprehensiveness. Economics was a part of his concept of total way of life. Mahaveer did not oppose increasing production. Nor did he oppose the technology upgradation or innovation. He rightly visualized that the root of the economic problems lied in the faulty incentive system and its motivation paradigm. He was also aware that this has been due to narrow vision of the economic agents, which gets reinforced due to their shorter time horizon. Mahaveer linked the individual inter-temporally with himself through a generation of births and deaths. This made the individual more responsive to the sustainable growth because any exploitation would only limit his own endowments in future. It automatically corrected the incentive system and the motivation paradigm.
This approach of Mahaveer harmonized the relation between individual and the society. Simultaneously, Mahaveer also proposed selfimposed restrictions on individual consumption. This naturally facilitated transfer of resources to production of essentials. There was also greater accumulation at the level of society, which improved general endowments reducing the deprivation at the level of individual and consumption inequalities.
Mahaveer's diagnosis of ills of the society was not constrained by time, space and pace of development . It was universal and for all times to come. His economics was, therefore, neither the economics of greed or economics of pessimism. It was neither blatant capitalism nor proposal for a command society. There was no hatred and no class war.
Development Ecnonomics is a jigsaw puzzle, said Albert Hirschman. But in any puzzle, once a central figure is placed properly, every other piece could fall automatically. Lord Mahaveeer, also identified that central
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