Eminent economist, TN Srinivasan, known for being one of the key advocates of the 1991 economic reforms passed away in Chennai on Saturday at the age of 85.
Well known among his peers for his wit, Srinivasan, a Professor of Economics and International Area Studies Emeritus at Yale University, had been a mentor of macroeconomics to current RBI governor, Urjit Patel.
He also welcomed the government’s decision to induct Patel in the key position.
Born as Thirukodikaval Nilakanta Srinivasan, in March 1933, he graduated in B.A. [Mathematics (Hons)] and M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Madras during 1953-54 after which he was trained in statistics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
After earning a doctorate in Economics from Yale University in 1962, Srinivasan taught in various US institutions such as MIT, Stanford University, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He also had been a visiting faculty for the Madras School of Economics and Department of Humanities at IIT-Madras.
He also served as special adviser to the Development Research Center at the World Bank from 1976 to 1980 and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2007.
Srinivasan held editorial positions in prominent business periodicals such as Economic Review, Journal of Asian Economics and World Journal of Quantitative Economics. He also founded the Journal of Development Economics, a field journal with macroeconomist Lance Jerome Taylor in 1972.
As a strong supporter of free trade and multilateralism which was brought in via the 1991 economic reforms which brought in foreign investment in India and reduce government regulation on Indian private entities and import tariffs.
Srinivasan wrote several books on a wide range of topics including development economics, international trade, finance and development, rural economy and poverty.
His famous books include India’s Economic Reforms with renowned economist Jagdish Bhagwati and Reintegrating India with World Economy with economist Suresh Tendulkar.
His last rites were held in the city on Monday by his son who lives in the US.