GDP Overestimation Row: Arvind Panagariya Calls Former CEA Subramanian's Claims Problem-Ridden, Blundered and Flawed
With the debate over India's GDP overestimation row gaining momentum, first vice-chairman of the government of India think-tank NITI Aayog - Arvind Panagariya - accused that Subramanian's claims are problem-ridden, blundered, flawed and based on wrong methodologies.
New Delhi, June 26: Days after PM Narendra Modi's economic panel rejected former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian's claims of GDP estimation, first vice-chairman of the government of India think-tank NITI Aayog - Arvind Panagariya - accused that Subramanian's claims are problem-ridden, blundered, flawed and based on wrong methodologies.
Slamming the former chief economic advisor, Panagariya - also a professor of economics at Columbia University - opined that Subramanian's claims on India's GDP overestimation are so far-fetched from reality. He accused his fellow economist that Subramanian did not realise the innumerable methodological problems afflicting his analysis. Arvind Subramanian's GDP Overestimation Remarks Lack Proper Methodology, Claims PM Modi's Economic Panel
Along with this, the former NITI Aayog's vice chairman stated that though Subramanian was aware of shortcomings, but chose to ignore them in the hope of creating a sensation. Panagariya even claimed that Subramanian made his claims in an attempt to gain the attention of the Narendra Modi government, media and possibly the world.
Sharing his opinion through a column in Economic Times, Panagariya applauded the contributions of the PM Modi's economic panel, which included Swaminathan Aiyar, Surjit Bhalla, Bibek Debroy, Charan Singh, and the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. The PMEAC had presented a point to point rebuttal to Subramanian's conclusion and said that Subramanian lacks proper methodology.
Panagariya, in his column, took a jibe at Subramanian by saying that the latter is a seasoned economist and not a fresh out from a graduate school. So his understanding of technical and methodological issues can't be based on flawed statistics. The Columbia University's economics professor found it inconvincible that Subramanian was unaware of the numerous methodological shortcomings, which are common knowledge among the economists.
Commenting on the Subramanian's paper, Panarariya opined that some commentators were impressed with his work, as it was circulated as a faculty working paper of teh Center for International Development at Harvard University, however, the inclusion doesn't mean that the paper and teh findings would be approved by the faculty. Narendra Modi Government Overestimated GDP Growth Rate, Claims Ex-CEA Arvind Subramanian.
It is to be known that former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian claimed that ruling dispensation overstated the GDP growth by about 2.5 per cent. Subramanian was of the opinion that the actual average annual growth between 2011-12 and 2016-17 may have been about 4.5 per cent, not seven per cent, as claimed by the ruling dispensations - be it Congress-led UPA or BJP-led NDA.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2019 05:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).