Commissioned by Development Foundation as Working Paper 002 and published in September 2012, this paper attempts to evaluate the impact of trade and commerce on human development in the Indian society over the last two millennia. A defined framework is used for this purpose in which social acceptance of private property reflected in the rules and norms for its recognition and transfer, and the relative importance of unilateral or “free” transfer is contrasted with trade or bilateral exchange of goods and services. Growth in trade accelerated material production while at the same time it shrank the sphere of an individual’s responsibility leading to increased economic disparity.
The period of the two millennia is divided into six phases-the Hindu foundation, the Islamic influence, the British impact and the Nationalistic drive, all prior to independence, and the socialist phase and the liberalist era forming the two sections in post-independent India. In each of these phases, a paradigm for analysis is identified, the dominant idea isolated and its impact on development traced.
From the analysis elements that can accelerate human development are identified to enable their conscious revival and promote their reintroduction in the 21st century India that is home to more than a billion human beings.
