We Also Make Policy: An Insider’s Account of How the Finance Ministry Functions

Description

We Also Make Policy offers an insider’s perspective on the workings of India’s Finance Ministry and the complex process behind some of the country’s most significant economic and financial policy decisions.

Written by Subhash Chandra Garg, former Economic Affairs Secretary and Finance Secretary to the Government of India, the book provides a first-hand account of how policies are made—and sometimes changed or abandoned—within the highest levels of government.

Drawing from Garg’s experience in policymaking and his involvement in the preparation of three Union Budgets, the book explores the pressures, negotiations, calculations, institutional dynamics, and political considerations involved in shaping India’s economic policy.

The book discusses several major policy episodes, including electoral bonds, bank recapitalisation, monetisation of public assets, the minimum support price debate, RBI reserves, foreign-currency sovereign bonds, cryptocurrency regulation, and the monetisation of airports. It also looks at the circumstances surrounding the resignation of former RBI Governor Urjit Patel.

Rather than presenting economic policy purely through numbers and official documents, Garg gives readers a behind-the-scenes view of the people, institutions, debates, and decisions that influence India’s economic direction.

An insightful read for students of economics, public policy, political science, civil services aspirants, researchers, and anyone interested in understanding how economic policy works inside the Government of India.

Key Highlights

• Insider account of India’s Finance Ministry
• Written by former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg
• Covers India’s economic and fiscal policymaking process
• Insights into the preparation of Union Budgets
• Discusses major economic policy decisions and controversies
• Covers electoral bonds, bank recapitalisation and asset monetisation
• Examines the role of the RBI and major monetary-policy debates
• Useful for students, researchers and civil services aspirants