Lessons for bean City from Jack & the beanstalk

Bibek Debroy in The Indian Express:

“By any criterion (per capita state domestic product, growth, poverty ratio, unemployment rate, human development, FDI share, percentage area irrigated), Karnataka is among the better-performing States. There will soon be a new government in Karnataka. Shouldn’t good economic performance make a new government’s task of governance easier?

“What can be done, and needs to be done, has been documented ad nauseam. All that is required is putting governance back on the agenda….

“The origins of the name Bangalore are obscure. It may have had something to do with rocks or guards, but the more common belief is one of boiled beans. The most remembered bean story is about Jack and the beanstalk, where Jack planted some magical beans and eventually killed the giant, with some help from the giant’s wife.

“There are no magical beans. But there are real beans in Bangalore that can grow into a giant bean-stalk. And we usually don’t remember the first part of the story, where Jack’s mother sent him off to the market to sell a cow. In return for the cow, Jack obtained the five magical beans. There may even be an allegory there about transforming Karnataka from an agricultural to tertiary/secondary economy. Remember, even reforming agriculture in Karnataka is easier than in many other states.”

Read the full story: Bangalore’s got the beans

Tags: Bibek Debroy, Churumuri, Jack & The Beanstalk, Karnataka Elections