Economic Constitutionalism In Nepal And China

The idea of economic constitutionalism stresses on the fact that constitutions play an important role in deciding the economic fate of the any country.This has held largely true for China which saw a closed economy through the 1950 s and in the following two decades courtesy the 1954,1975 and 1978 constitutions.Post the promulgation of 1982 constitution,China's economic growth skyrocketed with the country recording almost double digit economic growth by 2017.This was largely due to the 1982 constitution(and subsequent amendments)which contained provisions for foreign investment,encouraged private property and focused on market oriented socialist growth.However,on the other hand,the impact of constitution on the economy has been less evident in Nepal.Despite opening up the economy in 1990 just like China did in 1982,Nepal's economy has failed to take off.While political and administrative reasons have definitely played a part,the biggest legal problem hindering Nepal's economic growth has been the inconsistency between Nepal's laws/Acts and the provisions of the constitution.In other words,while the constitution can be seen to be making a genuine effort to promote economic growth in the country,the laws/Acts do not reflect such commitment.Using the FDI as a case in point,the study has presented three examples – of conflicting laws,lack of concrete laws and usurpation of jurisdiction – to show how there is an inconsistency between the laws/Acts and the constitution of Nepal.