Why India's present slump is a more serious issue than earlier slowdowns

What is unusual about the current period of slow growth is that it has come without an exogenous driver, unlike all previous periods of slowdown, going back 50 years, writes T N Ninan

The narrative preferred by many if not most economic commentators is that the Modi government has not done well by the economy. The near-consensus is that the promises Narendra Modi made during the 2014 election campaign have not been delivered, and the prospects for the immediate future are not bright. Certainly, there is no gainsaying that the government has bungled with key economic initiatives, regressed to protectionism, and done poorly on the jobs and trade fronts. Most importantly, if one assumes that growth this year is 5 per cent, and next year will be 6 per cent, growth over the