The article provided, written by Shashi Tharoor, discusses the decline of the Washington Consensus (WC)—a set of neoliberal economic policies that dominated global development for decades—and the emergence of a more fragmented, "post-Washington" era.
The Washington Consensus: From Orthodoxy to Obsolescence
1. What was the Washington Consensus?
Coined in 1989, the WC refers to 10 economic policy prescriptions promoted by the IMF and World Bank for developing countries in crisis. Its core mantra was "Liberalise, Privatise, and Deregulate."
* Key Pillars: Fiscal discipline, tax reform, trade liberalization, openness to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and privatization of state enterprises.
* The Goal: To trigger growth through "trickle-down" economics and market efficiency.
2. Why did it fail?
The article argues that the WC was a "one-size-fits-all" remedy applied without regard for local contexts.
* Systemic Shocks: It led to destabilization, such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global meltdown.
* Ignoring History: Successful nations like South Korea and China actually used industrial policy (state intervention)—the very thing the WC prohibited—to grow.
* Social Backlash: Inequality and job losses fueled movements like Brexit and MAGA, signaling a loss of faith in hyper-globalization.
3. The Shift: A New Era
The mid-2020s have seen the death of the "liberalize" default. We are now in an era of "Eclecticism" and Economic Nationalism:
* The Trump/Beijing Narrative: The rise of tariffs, state-led intervention, and "industrial policy" to protect national security over pure market efficiency.
* New Priorities: Governments now focus on climate resilience, AI governance, and social safety nets rather than just GDP growth.
Conclusion for UPSC
The takeaway is that the global economy has moved from a "ready-made template" to a context-sensitive approach. For India, this justifies a pragmatic mix: maintaining market openness while using targeted schemes like PLI (Production Linked Incentive) to build domestic capacity.
Source the hindu