The Autobiography of Amartya Sen - Term Paper Example

Amartya Sen (Amartya Sen: Autobiography) Amartya Sen is one of the most famous Indian economists in the world at present. He got theNobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his contributions to economics in general and welfare economics in particular. His social choice theory and interests in solving the problems of poorest members of the society made him one of the popular economists, not only in India but all over the world. While most of the economists formulated their theories in principles, Amartya Sen concentrated more on developing practical principles in solving the economic problems in this world. He is widely regarded as the Mother Teresa of economics because of his contributions to the poor. He is currently serving in two universities; in Thomas W. Lamont University as the Professor of Economics and in Harvard University as the Professor of Philosophy. Apart from that he is a distinguished fellow in many other famous universities and institutions like Harvard Society of Fellows, All Souls College, Oxford, Trinity College, Cambridge etc. This paper briefly analyses the contributions of Amartya Sen as an economist to the world. “Amartya Sen was born on 3 rd November 1933 in Santiniketan, West Bengal, India. His ancestral home was in Dhaka, Bangladesh. His family migrated to India following the partition of India in 1947”(Amartya Sen). The meaning of ‘Amartya’ is immortal. The renowned scholar of Indian literature, Rabindranath Tagore was the one who proposed the name of Amartya Sen. Rabindranath Tagore was one of the best friends of Amartya’s father. Sen started his school education in Dhaka; however, the division of India forced Sen and his family to migrate to India in 1947. The latter part of his school education was in Visva-Bharati University school. He has joined Presidency College, Kolkata, for his college education and completed his First Class First in his B.A. (Honours) in Economics. He left the Presidency College as the most eminent student of the 1953 batch. He has continued his higher studies in Trinity College, Cambridge, and completed a First Class BA (Honours) from there in 1956. He has enrolled for a Ph.D. in Economics in Trinity College itself after the completion of BA (Honours) from there. During the same period itself, he was appointed as the Professor and Head of the Department of Economics at Jadavpur University, Calcutta. Later he returned to Trinity College and completed his Ph.D. in Economics. Within economics, he has made original and critical contributions to development theory, planning, capital and growth theory, investment appraisal, the study of technology and employment, welfare economics, social choice theory, poverty and inequality measurement, issues in the causes and redressal of famines and destitution, and population policy (Subramanian). Amartya Sen is well known for his works for the poor. As mentioned earlier, he is currently regarded as the Mother Teresa of economics. The theory of social choice was developed by Amartya Sen. In his book “Poverty and famines” published in 1981, Amartya argued that famine occurs not only because of shortage of food, but also because of the inequalities built in to the mechanisms for distributing food (Amartya Sen). Masny of the earlier economists cited the food shortage as the major reasons for famine. However, Amartya was able to prove that even the produced food is not used up properly because of the problems in the distribution system. For example, in India, the government is distributing food to the poor people with the help of rationing system. However, because of the delays in completing the administrative procedures in supplying the food from the food go-downs to the ration shops, a substantial portion of the food items wasted. In other words, the bureaucracy is causing problems in the safe transport of the food items from the ware-houses to the ration shops in India. The increased percentage of corruption in bureaucracy is delaying the paper works. Thus, Amartya was able to prove that the supply mechanisms were not effective in many of the countries even though food stocks are available for distribution. . Amartya decided to work on welfare economics and developed his famous social choice theory because of his personal experience. During his childhood, at the age of nine, he witnessed the Bengal famine of 1943, in which three million people died. This disaster struck India, not because of the non- availability of food in Bengal, but because of the poor performances of the food distribution channels. Poor mechanisms in food distributions caused food shortage in the market and the prices of the food items increased to alarming levels in Bengal in 1943. Poor people failed to purchase food because of the huge prices of food and thus they forced to accept death. Amartya’s desire to do something for the poor started from there. Aamrtya’s contributions were not limited to economic alone. He was interested in Philosophy and developed lot of philosophical theories also. Issues of justice, inequality, morality, liberty, freedom, rationality and objectivity etc are some of the topics in which he has expressed his opinions. He has openly criticized religious fundamentalism and the bomb culture. “As a philosopher he has eminently fulfilled those requirements that have been laid down by Stendhal, and which Nietzsche held in such high esteem: In order to be a good philosopher, one must be dry, clear, devoid of illusion" (Subramanian). “When the world was talking of free market economy, Prof. Sen emphasised the need for giving a human face to development. Amartya Sen is one of those few economists who talk of political economy of hunger”(Indians Abroad: Amartya Sen). Amartya did try to blend the economic principles with philosophical theories. He has realised that philosophical theories may not be useful if it lack the support of practical economic theories. It is easy to formulate theories in principle or on papers; however it is difficult to implement these theories practically. For example, communism is a good philosophy in principle, but it is difficult to implement communist theories in practice. Even in communist China, poverty and corruption are still there. In other words, communism is a philosophy which is good on papers. Amartya Sen was against such philosophies. He believed only in philosophies which are practically possible. It is because of the above awareness, Amartya tried to mix economics with philosophy. In an interview with Adrea Mach, Amartya argued that Freedom is very central to development, both as ends and as means. It's the complementarity of different kinds of freedom which makes the analysis of "development as freedom" a particularly fruitful thing to pursue. Consolidating freedom of one kind helps consolidate freedom of other kinds. This is a very central issue in facing the challenges of the 21st century. The different aspects of freedom must influence the agenda of the coming century (Mach) Amartya Sen and his thoughts affected the public policy making in America and around the world. His comments about the 9/11 incident and is famous at present. In his opinion the American response to 9/11 incident was inappropriate. The American response affected millions of poor and innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Amartya also criticized the way in which the American government dealt with the current financial crisis. He has argued that America’s economic policies are affecting other countries also because of the trade and financial relations America has with others. He argued that injustice in one country can affect other countries as well because of the interconnection of countries as a result of globalization. This idea of interdependence expressed by Sen has come to be accepted by governments around the world. That is why the world is moving towards common laws and agreements. Apec, Asean, the European Union, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, each is a reminder we are living in a globalized world (Abhijit) As mentioned earlier, Amartya Sen got the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his contributions to economics in general and welfare economics and social choice theory in particular. The world or the economic community started to recognize his voice and opinions from the 70’s and 80’s onwards. The social choice theory was developed by Sen in the 70’s whereas in 1981, he has published his famous book Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation in which he argued that famine occurs not only because of food shortage, but also from inequalities in the distribution channels. Amartya Sen is currently works and lives in America with his third wife, Emma Georgina Rothschild. His first wife was Nabaneeta Dev Sen, with whom he had two children. Becaseu of some personal problems he divorced his first wife and married his second wife, Eva Colorni who died from stomach cancer in 1985. He has two children in this affair also. His present wife is Emma Georgina Rothschild, who is an economic historian. Even though Sen spends majority of his time in America, he visit his native place in Santiniketan in West Bengal, India, in msot opf the winter seasons. To conclude, Amartya Sen is one of the most famous economists of the contemporary society. He has dedicated his life for econo0mics and philosophy. He succeeded in giving philosophical dimensions to the economic principles. He is a Nobel Prize winner and currently staying in America even though he is an Indian by origin. Works Cited 1. “Amartya Sen: Autobiography”. Web. 4 March 2011. 2. “Amartya Sen”. 2008. Web. 4 March 2011. 3. Abhijit. “The Idea of Justice: Amartya Sen”. 2009. Web. 4 March 2011. 4. “Indians Abroad: Amartya Sen”. Web. 4 March 2011. 5. Mach, Adrea. “To Our Health”. 1999. Web. 4 March 2011. 6. Subramanian, S. “Amartya Sen” Web. 4 March 2011. Read More