THE AGE OF FALLIBILITY By George Soros Public Affairs Pp: 259 Price: Rs 1,023

Of the half-a-dozen or so books that George Soros has written, there's only one (The Alchemy of Finance) devoted to the controversial speculator's investment secrets. All the others address larger issues such as globalisation, capitalism, democracy and communism. The statistic is important because it tells you something about the man: He sees himself more as a crusader than a famous and rich financial market investor. That should make Soros, born in Hungary in 1930 as Gyorgy Schwartz, the only one of his kind. For example, Warren Buffett, far wealthier stock investor than Soros, champions no significant political cause, keeps a low profile, and certainly hasn't been accused of trying to bring down any institution (Soros, in contrast, is often called the "man who broke the Bank of England", for profiting from Britain's currency crisis of 1992).

Yet, if Soros is anything, he's not apologetic. He doesn't feel embarrassed by his riches or even his aggressive political agendas, and he expects people to believe him when he says that "my goal is to make the world a better place". Over the years, starting the late 70s, Soros has been putting his money where his mouth is, helping topple governments, build democratic institutions and, of late, chase us President George Bush out of office. In fact, his previous book, The Bubble of American Supremacy, was a scathing attack on how Bush had managed to lead America astray. Soros agrees that the world changed after 9/11, but believes that Bush made it worse with his so-called war on terror.

So, how is The Age of Fallibility different from his previous books? To put it simply, it's a rethink-not on the fundamental issues, but on one important count: the American open society. Bewildered and frustrated by the American voter's decision to reelect Bush, Soros wants to figure out why the average American has been unable to see that Bush's war on terror has disastrous consequences for the country and the world in general. His conclusion:"The message is simple: America cannot remain powerful and prosperous as a feel-good society. We must learn to confront unpleasant realities if we want to remain leaders in the world...it is not enough to change governments; our attitudes and policies need to be thoroughly reconsidered."

It isn't easy to get your arms around this book. The first part, where Soros talks about thinking and reality and open society, is especially tricky, and he tends to repeat himself several times. But there's no mistaking the importance of Soros' message. The world has become a far more unstable place in the wake of 9/11, and the citizens of the world have to act now to keep it from spiralling into destruction.

THE INDIAN ECONOMY By Jayanta Sarkar Pearson Longman Pp: 311 Price: Rs 575

At a time when the government is withdrawing from business, Jayanta Sarkar, in his book The Indian Economy, offers a contrarian view. His arguments hinge on a simple premise-that the ills of Capitalism are reason enough for Socialism to make a comeback.

Sarkar liberally uses this principle to describe his 'alternate models'. He suggests that government should get into the procurement business with a vengeance-become a clearing house for all commodities. This, he argues, will find favour with the consumer and the primary seller (say, the farmer or artisan), since the latter reposes greater faith in the public sector.

On the fiscal front, the author finds a rather escapist solution to the issue of tax evasion-offer a tax rebate on disclosure of black money. However, the author's concerns on health and education issues and the lack of adequate government focus on these sectors is noteworthy. His prescriptions are more reasonable on these issues-special administrative back up and also larger funds.

The contrarian nature of the book registers a spike on another front-role of agriculture in the Indian economy. The author maintains that India will 'essentially' remain an agricultural country, deriving his conviction from the country's 'ageless ethos, social matrices'. Surely, the book best brings out Sarkar's patriotism.

-Balaji Chandramouli