New Delhi, Jan. 31 -- In an article for the Mint, chief economic advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran expressed the hope that the latest Economic Survey's proposed answers to the many challenges facing the economy-the course of key interest rates, energy transition, the drivers of global growth, impact of will artificial intelligence on job markets, etc -"will influence, illuminate and delineate [the government's] approaches to the more enduring challenges."

The CEA's fervent wish is reminiscent of what Samuel Johnson once said of second marriages. They represent 'the triumph of hope over experience.' The reason is simple. The Survey is authored by technocrats under the leadership of the CEA, who, unfettered by the compulsions of realpolitik, a...