New Delhi, Nov. 5 -- The 'what ifs' of Indian development are many and varied. Embarking on a kind of time travel, some observers will point out that India had a per capita income comparable to Korea's, say, some six decades ago, and to China's before Deng Xiaoping began his bold reforms in the late 1970s.

In A Sixth of Humanity, a book by Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian, the authors posit this development paradox in a poignant and perceptive way: "Every successful case of growth surge and success in the post war period in Asia has been associated with dramatic surges (about 20% or more) in clothing and footwear exports." Korea, for example, saw annualized growth rates of 30% in apparel and 70% for leather and footwear in the two dec...