A.V.C.College of Mayiladuthurai creates history by having a discourse on Keynes and Friedman

Keynes’s General Theory- really a monumental master piece of 20^th century completed its 75 years of existence last year . This year(2012)  happens to be the centenary celebration of Milton Friedman. Thanks to the financial benevolence of Malcolm & Elizabeth Adisheshaiah Trust , under the guidance of Prof.N.Rama gopal of Annamalai University ,  Dr.Ramasamy of A.V.C.College, Mayavaram conducted  both the functions in his campus and I was one of the invited speakers .On both the occasions, I had the opportunity to read prof.Paul Krugman’s scholarly writeup viz Introduction to Keynes’s General Theory of Employment , Interest andMoney and ‘ Who was Milton Friedman?’

Ever since I returned from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune in 1982 after the completion of my Ph.D I have fallen in love with Paul Krugman’s writings. While writing a new introduction to Keynes’s General Theory in 2005 , the 70^th year of publication, he made the following remark that he read that classic as a student but hardly touched there after. Again in view of its continued relevance to interpret contemporary developments in the world economy, he again read the book to write a lengthy commentary, passing on the central message of Keynes –How did he do it? What he missed it and so on. This write up , combined with his classic piece on Miton Friedman do have an educative influence on lesser privileged people like us who have a passionate interest in economics but clearly lacking scholarhsip to understand the tricky  aspect of the subject .

Last year, Prof.Neelakantan, former Director of MIDS, who must have crossed 75 was there at A.V.C to scintillate all of us by giving the juice of Keynes’s General Theory. There were also many others to do justice to task assigned to them. That occasion also helped me to re read Keynes and get fresh insight as to how monetary policy was impotent and ineffective, and that fiscal policy should play a dominant role. It was an altogether different matter that the Keynesian medicine of deficit budget and public spending was half heartedly applied and hence the Depression prolonged for more than a decade and ironically the economic salvation came through Second World War.

This time the audience was large, the hall was very big, stage setting was very nice and yet in terms of  interpreting the substantial contribution of Miton Friedman , there was some slack and  nobody can be blamed for this .From my side, given the constraint of time , following Paul Krugman fully and feverishly and getting convinced that he was right , I made an attempt to expose the intellectual fallacy and dishonesty  on the part of Friedman in interpreting the Great Depression of 1930s through the monetary lens.By citing the statistics  that monetary base increased from  $6.05bn to $7.02bn and that the money supply declined from $26.6bn to $19.9bn , I  brought home the  truth that  Federal Reserve Bank of U.S did not adapt any deflationary policy and that, contraction of money suppply was the fall out of series of bank failures ins 1930-31 , leading to excessive liquidity prefernce by the general public and the bank as well .

Before I conclude this piece let me quote the attribute of Economists as quoted by Theodre White in ‘Breach of Faith’ “Economists are very much like reporters and necessary. The best of them can tell you exactly where you are. The exceptional ones can tell you how you got there.But none can predict how you go from where you are to where you want to get.”

Personally I feel that both Keynes and Krugman are exceptional professional economists who could write more analytically on issues and tell where we are and how we got here. We need the tribes of these economists to interpret the complex events taking place around us.

If God wills and my physical stamina permits , I will subject myself to the self imposed discipline of writing more on Keynes and Smith, Ricardo and Friedman, Sameulson and Joan Robinson and so on and by  reading and re reading Krugm,an’s scholarly writings .

The Unposted letter –An exercise in the art of letter writing

Following is the letter that I drafted to my youngest daughter’s friend in 2002 but failed to post .For reference I should say that Joe is another pet name for my daughter .Her friend lives in Washington .Most of us have forgotten the habit of writing letters but only scribbling through short e-mails. The letter posted below not only stresses the value of true friendship but also remains the reader that once in a while we need to write letters to know who we are? What we are?

Now the Letter :

My Dear,

Since the closing days of 2002, we have been experiencing a series of turns and twists  in the drama of  our life.I must say that Joe had the necessary mental and physical stamina to withstand all those shocks and disturbances of life .

It was during that period only you thought, she had distanced from yourself and that she was not adequately plain and frank.Had she allowed me to speak, I would have explained in person, about the state of chaos prevailing here.

I only know how much love and affection Sakthi has for you.It may not be fully expressed explicitly but it would be naive to say or seduce yourselves to the belief that it does not exist.

To my knowledge, true friendship is a rare phenomena in life .It is not that everyone is gifted to strike it at the early age and keep it in perpetual motion through time.One must have judgement and wisdom to forget the transient misunderstanding and fall back upon the true spirit and perspective of friendship.

I am very sorry to hear about your own pain and agony.There’s a saying that when going becomes tough, the tough gets going.

Thank you for the letter written, but not posted yet.I would be very happy to receive your tonic   and balm to lighten my heart.

From my end, I must say that children must spend more time with mother and make her happy and reassured in life.Try to understand her feelings and frustration and provide an emotional anchor.

It’s time all of us learnt the art of detached attachment in life.Too much of love, a heightened sense of possessiveness will create wrinkles on emotional side. All of us will always practice a sense of moderation. And more important, we should not forget to laugh .

The Corrupt: Neither sense of shame nor the moral fibre to cloth their physical frame

In the wake of the spill over effects of both global financial crisis and ongoing European Sovereign Debt Crisis, the growth profile of even strong emerging economies like China and India has undergone a transformation and in the near future, they cannot step into double digit growth rate.

Lack of democracy has been strength to China in so far as stifling the voice of dissent and there is no immediate threat to leadership .In sharp contrast, India is facing a real leadership crisis. The regime of  UPA led by Dr.Mannmohan Singh as a proxy prime minister in the second innings is one of the classic case of non performance on the economic front.The corruption has peaked to an all time high and  no longer the scholar P.M can talk like a parrot I don’t know .

One of the fundamental reasons for the rampant inflation and slow growth rate in our country is the lack of governance and absence of ethical and moral standards. Indeed it is an irony of fate that the ruling party is not at all bothered about its image being molested  by a series of corruption scandals . They have no  sense of shame , no moral fiber to cloth their physical frame .The honest elite can only lament through blog like this and they are helpless . Following is just a simple silent soliloquy on the need for good governance so as to give some semblance of stability and support to the masses who are completely dispossessed of their basic necessities.

Ethical and moral standards can be maintained only if the leaders of the Government provide a personal example of dedication to public service .A perpetual deviation from standards of good code of conduct and behavior on the part of many leaders including the captains of corporate and academic sectors is the root cause for the deprivation of many at the bottom line.

When ethical standards falter at  top  level, one cannot expect the typical ordinary government employee having all vulnerabilities and   capacities  to yield to  temptation of money,  develop any kind of sensitivity and concern towards the poor, unless of course he  has had evolved a code of conduct to behave in a more balanced  and moral way since his cradle days.

Not only Government employee uses  his position to curry favor  or induce another individual to provide him with anything of economic value but also engages himself in outside employment.Under the circumstances the confidence of the public in the integrity and dedication of Government becomes suspect.

No legal system or web of statute however intricately conceived can hope to deal with the myriad problems confronting our political system for both men of eminence in their respective fields of ‘politics’ and ‘crime’ became natural   and normal partners – a kind of collusive oligopoly .Like price rigidity of oligopolsitic market, a state of rigidity and status quo prevail with regard to the acts of criminality committed in the past.

Globalization-Good, Bad, Ugly

Globalization has benefited a select few in both developed and developing countries, the so called elite, educated and especially those who are equipped with skill set, and also possessing an initial economic endowments.

In the same vain   it can be stated that it has impoverished and weakened many others, in particular the poorest and the most disadvantaged /dispossessed masses in either world.

It is also true that many millions of people all over the world have been lifted out of poverty trap, extreme inequality and inexplicable humiliation- No one could undermine those positive benefits.

But the darker   side of globalization the most brutal   one, must be also  kept in mind, for they outweigh the positive benefits stemming out of this process. The social, economic and cultural fabric   has been devastated beyond any repair or redemption.

The rapidly technology driven benefits, cheap transport, fall in communication costs, internet revolution, access to better and quality goods, and so on also coexist with greater agflation , rising energy prices , deteriorating environment , climate change, acute  water scarcity, vast pools of cheap labor and dwindling middle class ,experiencing  erosion  of real wage.

Globalization and free trade debate has ensured neither fair trade nor prevented the emergence of protected trends.

Jagadish Bhagavati’s well known simple argument that individuals having tooth brush and tooth paste, respectively, can trade with each other, in a free market environment at a right price and get their  teeth brightened and healthy, is very much appealing to defend economic globalization.

But ground level reality, gives an altogether  a  different message .Global  recession induced  fall in demand  world wide and rising resource prices dominated and frustrated    by the oligopolistic and monopolistic  MNCs, have adversely affected  growth, and cry all over the world is: we want more jobs. As is to add insult to the injury SEDC, is also calling for austerity measures, even while  working out some kind of bailout? Where are we heading?

Defending Academic Freedom – Peter Heehs visits Pondicherry University

One of my former students of Pondicherry University in the mid 90s by name Arindam das , who also happened to be  the student of Aurobindo  Ashram school  came to campus and told about the controversy surrounding the lives of Sri Aurobindo , authord by Peter Heehs in 2008. While talking , he made an observation that Pondicherry , being and becoming the hub of educational institutions , the university should take the initiative and defend the academic freedom of  serious researchers and scholars , who are becoming the victim to moral policing and high handedness of vested interests.

In a matter of few days  a small meeting was arranged and we succeeded in bringing the author to our campus and despite our best efforts and good intention a detailed  objective  and health discussion could not take place , largely due to  the recalcitrant and highly arrogant attitude of one student , who tried to hijack the discussion and the personal level .

The positive fallout of the meet during the last week was that I did some home work for nearly a week and attempted to  understand the life and teachings of Aurobindo, as narrated by Peter Heehs and enjoyed reading it  and also  articulating the same on the stage in my own characteristic way .The author clarified  a few doubts  on questions , which were of trivial nature .

Being a pondicherian  for long , I neither  knew French nor tasted any hot  drink  .Over time, I had an occasion to enjoy social drink in a very very moderate dose but not picked up the french language. Nor did I bother to learn more about Sri Aurobindo , one of the finest  rebels  and revolutionaries in the early stage  before culminating  into a spiritual guru and practitioner of Yoga .Ig God wills, I might write a detailed review of this book , which  appears to be a well wriiten treatise with lot of proof and documentary evidences . As an insider  for more than four decades and as a critical historian by training , Peter Heehs  has done reasonable justice in humanizing Aurobindo to the common man and making people like us, who are not deeply religious but nevertheless very  keen to go into the realm of diving grace with all our doubt  and ignorance .

I Salute my Alma matter T.A.C, while it clebrates its Golden jubilee

Last week, Tagore Arts College (T.A.C.) - the first premier institute for higher education in Pondicherry celebrated its Golden jubilee. Incidentally this institution also happens   to be my Alma matter and the event managers/ organizers were kind enough to remember me and extended invitation for the inaugural function. Given my prior commitment and academic engagement I could not participate.

Through media, as a distant observer I learn t from the deliberations that every one spoke about the need for giving recognition to an institution which has completed its fifty years of physical existence. Thnak God, the T.A.C has survived successfully, by silently producing many scholars and bureaucrats amidst all the chaos inherently built into the institution.

I was privileged to address the student community and the faculty under the shamina erected in front of the building, just a year ago and at that time I understood the existential dilemma of the institution which nursed and nurtured people like us academically. I had my natural guts and innate academic commitment to outsmart the hooliganism displayed by a few drunkards on that day. I will try to revisit that event at a late stage in tranquility.

In the Golden jubilee celebration, the Chief Minister reiterated his commitment to the establishment of state university and another agricultural university. I was told that another speaker, a former student  my contemporary then gave a novel idea that the university shall be started in the T.A.C.Campus.

It  is just puzzling and perplexing to hear how  the elite and the intelligentia could be so hypocratical and artificial in their utternaces and action as the very same people  hardly paid any attention  to preserve and maintain minimum academic  law and order in the campus . 

This is not to say or suggest that everything is in shambles and there is no redemption for T.A.C. There are still many stalwarts and eager students keen to learn and prove themselves as worthy students in a government institution in order that the old academic legacy of the 60s and 70s could be re invented.

At this moment I think about one professor .Bala Krishna Nair,  who did the real magic  as  the first principal of the college . Having made a mark in presidency college Madras, he could  instill discipline and professional honesty in T.A.C .

I take this opportunity to remind our C.M of Puducherry , who has rightly lamented that our region should  produce more I.A.S officers that  an old T.A.C student who was lucky to study M.A. economics under our dispensation , eventually elevated himself to the status of I.E.S  and currently he holds the position of Additional Economic Advisor  in the Finance Ministry . In his education and ultimate elevation , a few faculty members  played a prominent role and among them  I will mention  my own contribution and that of  Dr.Dharma Lingam , a scholar of repute .

It would have been more appropriate if the event managers of the function have taken pains to honor Satish kind of students on the stage and thus motivate the budding scholars to rise to exalted position.

Personally speaking, it was a rewarding experience for me to study economics under the regime of Prof.Sasankan and Prof.Palani.G.Periya sami. I am thankful to the Lord for my education – the most foundational one at T.A.C and come out as college first which gave me a birth in Madras Presidency College. Otherwise I would have ended up my life as a clerk in Government office or taken over my Father’s profession. And who knows? I would have  made more money in life. Before I conclude this piece , I can only pray to the Lord  sleeping  in  heavens that   the institution should be freed from  all kinds of divisive and destructive politics and a strong leader  should take over the administration , giving strength and support to both students and faculty .

Today, I complete my 42 years of teaching

Today, I complete my 42 years of teaching.When I look back the four decades, I feel immensely happy.A quarter century  experience at varius colleges in the Unioin Territory of Pondicherry, which included a four year fellowship period at Gokhale Institute , Pune  served as launch pad for my entry into the Pondicherry  University in 1994 . I am in the final year of my stay at varsity, one year short of two decades teaching.

My entry into university was late.But better late than never. University was not in my frame of mind, when I did Ph.D at Pune.Benevolent fate brought me to central university and I had the blessings to teach students drawn from all over the country and of course from overseas .

The University  provided me a compelling environment to study extensively.The Hindu Business Line  facilitated my writing skill.Given  my academic  potentials, I could have done better on publication side.No regrets. If God wills, and health co operates I will be more active and academically more productive, during post-retirement period.If there is real zest  for academics, even  physical health will improve and I am feverishly hoping and  praying that God will come to my rescue and ensure  minimum health to carry my tapas and meditation on academic track.Today,  6 th August 2012, I remember all my teachers and all my students for having carried me thus far.Let the supreme enable me to deliver more  at the margin time.