Passage: As India entered the 21st century, the Net National Income of the average Indian was ₹20,000. While this figure is not the actual earnings of an individual, it is a good proxy for the average Indian’s annual income. By 2015, it had grown to ₹90,000. Had it continued on the same tr

Question

Passage: As India entered the 21st century, the Net National Income of the average Indian was ₹20,000. While this figure is not the actual earnings of an individual, it is a good proxy for the average Indian’s annual income. By 2015, it had grown to ₹90,000. Had it continued on the same trajectory, it should have been ₹1,65,000 today. Instead, as the recent Economic Survey shows, the Net National Income for the average Indian is ₹1,35,000. In other words, the average Indian has potentially lost ₹30,000 in net annual income. For most Indians, ₹30,000 a year is a very big amount. This is the cost of economic underperformance for the average Indian. It is well accepted by most political economists that India's economic performance is largely shaped by the ‘POW’ trinity - politics, oil and world economy. Political leadership and stability are critical determinants of domestic and foreign investment in India. Global oil prices play an inordinately large role in shaping India’s macroeconomy. World trade and global GDP drive India’s exports and industry. In 2014, India gleamed with hope. For the first time in nearly half a century, the ‘POW’ trinity was perfectly aligned. Indians handed a parliamentary majority to a supposedly strong, decisive leader with a promise of economic development. Beginning in 2014, global crude oil prices dropped precipitously from more than 100 a barrel to 40. It was estimated then that the steep fall in oil prices alone would add two extra percentage points to India's GDP growth rate, besides taming inflation. The global economy was also on an upward trend from 2014, recovering robustly from the devastation of the 2008 economic crisis. The period from 2014 to 2019 was among the best five years for world economic growth in the 21st century. So, in the summer of 2014, a billion Indians glimmered in hope and excitement at the prospect of rapidly rising income levels and prosperity under a perfectly aligned ‘POW’. Six years later, not only has the average Indian’s income levels not grown faster than before, it is actually ₹30,000 short of what it should have been. Why did things go so wrong? The ongoing health catastrophe caused by the novel coronavirus in Hubei province of China offers meaningful parallels and lessons for India's economic policy climate. Which among the following statements is true as per the passage given above?

Accepted Answer

The period from 2014 to 2019 was among the best five years for world economic growth in the 21st century.. The passage directly states that 2014 to 2019 was among the best five years for world economic growth in the 21st century. The other options are either unsupported or contradicted by the passage. So the correct statement is the one about world economic growth during 2014–2019.

Solution

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