Hidden value
Activities out in the sticks may add more to GDP than was thought
THE chief architect of India’s constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, once said its villages were “a den of ignorance, narrow-mindedness and communalism”. Now some think they are the strongest bit of the economy. Neelkanth Mishra, an analyst at Credit Suisse, reckons that, if activity in informal industries and rural areas were properly measured, India’s GDP would look bigger and more stable and the present slump less severe. This is a source of comfort at a time when India is fighting a financial panic.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Hidden value”
From the September 28th 2013 edition
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