Book Review: Bagchi, Amiya Kumar. The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (London: The Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1982, pp. viii+280, Index. Hardcover£20, Paperback £7.50)

Abstract

Since Professor Amiya Kumar Bagchi’s above mentioned book has been wonderfully written, We could, not help checking our desire to review it once again although several expert scholars (such as Tussie, 1983; Bvres, 1984: Herring, 1985 and Jain. 1999) of different countries had earlier reviewed it. Another ground of reviewing Ihis book after so many years of its publication in 1982 is that even today.-’^e-Tnain theme of Professor Bagchi’s work very much exists in [he econotliih infrastructures of the Bangladesh economy. A lot of wealth is now in the hands of a tiny minority while ah overwhelming majority of our population is suffering from exploitation, deprivation and poverty. Marginal farmers and wage earners are very many. Furthermore, we have heeh observing carefully that the disparity between the rich and the poor in Bangladesh has significantly escalated within the last decade. The upper classes have been conspicuously building their wealth, while most of the poor are not even able to feed themselves because of continuing price hike of essentials, to our profound regret. Hence, this review of Bagchi’s book even after several reviews by several scholars in the past. Dr. Amiya Kumar Bagchi, a renowned Indian Professor, is an eminent economist of the modern Cambridge tradition. Professor Bagchi’s book which anchored its economic analysis based on the admission that society was divided into three classes: landlords, capitalists and wage earners is part of a growing current attempting to revive the traditions of political economy of underdevelopment along Marxist-Leninist axis.