Last week I went up to an office in Hornby Road – now predictably and boringly called Mahatma Gandhi Road – and looked out on the Reserve Bank Building. I imagined Urjit Patel sitting in a comfortable armchair on its top floor; then I remembered that Raghuram Rajan’s term has not yet ended. I shall miss him for his wit no less than for his economics. My hope is that he will continue to exhibit both and entertain us in some other post. I also hope he will write about what he learnt about the Indian economy, for good economic analysis is scarce in our country.
But now it is time to look forward to Urjit Patel’s tenure. He is not a public performer like his predecessor, but he is a solid, reliable economist. The obstacles to achieving something in our government are formidable, and the governor faces frequent sabotage from Delhi if he does not toe its line. Rajan achieved little, but made great headlines on account of the sabotage. While grand fights are always fun for a watcher of public affairs, even a watcher like me would wish that Bombay and Delhi would work together to improve the country’s economy. Assuming that he will get more cooperation from Delhi, what are the things he should try to achieve?
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