A teacher who shaped economic policies

Free trade advocate T.N. Srinivasan passes away at 85

November 11, 2018 10:49 pm | Updated 10:59 pm IST

CHENNAI, 06/01/2009: T. N. Srinivasan speaks to The Hindu in Chennai on January 06, 2009.
Photo:  M. Vedhan

CHENNAI, 06/01/2009: T. N. Srinivasan speaks to The Hindu in Chennai on January 06, 2009. Photo: M. Vedhan

On Sunday in Chennai, India lost one of its notable economists with the passing of T.N. Srinivasan. Indian economists around the world joined the chorus of tributes and praise for the academic, whose publications and teachings made inroads into several important economic policy concepts that governments around the world, and notably in India, are still grappling with.

Thirukodikaval Nilakanta Srinivasan was most recently the Emeritus Samuel C. Park, Jr. Professor of Economics at Yale University. Prior to that he had been advisor to and professor at some of the most prestigious institutions in the world, including the World Bank, MIT, Stanford University, and the Indian Statistical Institute. In 2007, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to literature and education.

Dr. Srinivasan’s teachings and beliefs regarding international trade would and should have an impact in all discourse on the subject, especially today when a number of large economies are increasingly looking inward and adopting protectionist policies. He believed that international trade should be free and without barriers.

It was a somewhat Darwinian approach to commerce, where each country would cease trade activities in areas in which it was at a significant disadvantage and would flourish in those fields where it was stronger.

“His professional work was absolutely first rate,” Montek Singh Ahluwalia, member of the erstwhile Planning Commission told The Hindu , having interacted professionally with Dr. Srinivasan many times throughout their respective careers. “He was one of the early economists who worked quite a bit on what we now call economic reform. He was deeply interested in the subject and always willing to discuss... any aspect of it. It is a big loss that he is no more with us.”

Recently, Dr. Srinivasan spoke about how U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran would be detrimental to the global economy, as well as to India in particular.

He also gave advice and commented on contemporary issues regarding the Indian economy, including demonetisation (“the government’s implementation showed extreme unpreparedness and lack of thought”), inflation targeting (“I have serious reservations about its relevance and applicability in the domestic context”), and fiscal deficit.

Another crucial contribution he made to economic discourse and policymaking in India was along with Jagdish Bhagwati, where he spoke about how the government should move away from allocating resources and that administrative control had many more systemic problems than leaving such decisions to the market did.

A sharp critic

Dr. Srinivasan was well known (and somewhat feared) for being unforgiving of errors in method, sharply criticising such lapses. His critique of an IMF working paper by Dani Rodrik and former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian on India’s transition from ‘Hindu Growth’ to productivity is a case in point. “This is a disappointing paper,” Dr. Srinivasan’s first line reads. “It sees a mystery and fails to convince through analysis why it does. Had the authors been familiar with Indian economic literature, they might not have written it!”

“According to everybody who was taught by him, he was a great teacher,” Mr. Ahluwalia added. “He didn’t have a high opinion of the so-called ‘high and mighty’, and he took a lot of trouble with students, explaining things to them. He regarded criticism as something that should go to the limit. He wasn’t soft in criticising, but he was very soft as a personality and didn’t look down on you.But if you did something that was wrong, he just said ‘look, this doesn’t make any sense’. But he was the kind of person who encouraged you then to set right what you were doing wrong.”

Another example of his self-deprecatory wit can be seen in his comments on the report by the committee headed by a former student of his, current RBI Governor Urjit Patel: “I have to share the blame for any fault in his committee’s report, for not having trained him appropriately!”

The 15th Finance Commission on Twitter issued an official statement on Dr. Srinivasan’s demise: “The Commission is feeling saddened by the news of the demise of T. N. Srinivasan. A towering figure whose iconic works in macroeconomics has left an indelible footprint for academic India. We convey our heartfelt condolences to the family and pray for peace to the departed soul.”

Now, if only they also heed his advice.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.