Country’s leading economists have expressed concern over the gradually shrinking involvement of economists in the policymaking process and feared that it would affect achieving sustainable development of Bangladesh. According to a media report on Monday, the task of the economists has also become more complex in the contemporary era amid lower political demand for good economic analysis, which resulted in under-representation of the majority people.
It was observed that the economists nowadays feel more comfortable working within their own territory amid the changed political atmosphere as compared to the past, which has somewhat shrunk their presence in the social movements. So, there is a need to identify the reasons behind the risk-averse attitude of the economists in social agenda, the noted economists have said this at a virtual meeting organized by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) in the city.
Undeniably, many of the challenges now being faced by the people can only be resolved by involving maximum number of economists, experts, businesses and individuals to achieve the long-term sustainable development goals (SDGs). To spearhead the process, SDGs Implementation and Monitoring Committee has been formed at the Prime Minister’s Office to facilitate implementation of the goal’s Action Plan for poverty eradication.
The report said that many of the economists in the country have been only diagnosing the problem instead of making policy influences to solve it or actively getting involved in the problem-solving process. Apart from the professional and policy influencing, the economists have detached themselves from activism, thinking about risks of getting involved in socio-political agenda.
In this context, they mentioned that the economists in 1960s or 1970s were actively involved in the socio-political activism as there was demand from the political forces, but as the demand lessened, the scope for economists to get involved in movements has reduced to a great extent.
The leading economists pointed out that the people in power now do not need the exchange of ideas, but they need economists only to legitimise their policies. On the other hand, considering risks many economists are also refraining from getting involved in social activism.
In achieving the SDGs, all countries including Bangladesh subscribing to the 2030 Agenda are to align their own development efforts with the aim of promoting prosperity while protecting the planet in order to achieve sustainable development. For this, involvement of economists is the must.
