BOOK REVIEW Review Article Six Mis-leading Economists VKRVRAO etal, INFLATION AND INDIA'S ECONOMIC CRISIS, Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd, Delhi 1973, pp70, Rs 10. SIX economists, from the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi, have come out with certain remedies to deal with inflation and the current economic crisis in India. In doing so they have betrayed profound contradictions between what they profess and what they prescribe and have shown considerable ambivalence in their approach to certain strategic policies. In fact, they have disguised their proposed strategic changes in the garb of tactical adjustments. They claim to be "firm believers" in the ideals of "democracy and socialism". But, the short-term measures they have suggested amount to a strategic retreat even from the limited advance towards monopoly control and nationalisation of wholesale trade in foodgrains and a betrayal of the larger interests'of the masses of workers in industry and agriculture. On the one hand, they have affirmed their commitment to monopoly/loh'gopoly control and elimination of economic concentration. On the other, they have suggested a whole lot of measures including liberalisation of licencing of oligopolistic firms in the name of "short-term" measures meant to boost production. Liberalisation of Monopoly Controle The ambivalence of the six economists is clearly highlighted in their attitude towards monopolistic and oligopolistic firms engaged in the production of essential commodities. Apparently they accept industrial policy as an important instrument for ensuring social justice. At the same time they plead for a modification of the present policy in favour of oligopolistic firms. Firstly, by virtue of a narrow text-book definition