New Delhi: Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s recent critique of India’s economic growth trajectory has ignited a debate among economists, with NITI Ayog member and macroeconomist Arvind Virmani expressing strong disagreement. Virmani characterized Rajan’s remarks as reminiscent of “parachute economists,” indicating detachment from the ground realities of India.
“In the 1990s BOP crisis, we coined the term ‘parachute economists’ for visiting WB, IMF, and other MDB economists. It’s disheartening that a former RBI Governor now sounds like one, despite his decades of experience with the Indian economy,” Virmani conveyed in a tweet.
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Rajan’s comments, made during a Bloomberg interview, challenged India’s optimism about becoming a developed economy by 2047. He labeled such aspirations as “nonsense”, pointing to persistent challenges like inadequate high school education and high dropout rates among children.
However, Rajan’s assertions faced criticism from prominent figures like Mohandas Pai, who dismissed them as disconnected from India’s ground realities.
According to a report by Business Today, Mohandas Pai, Chairperson of Manipal Global Education, stated, “Silly arguments by RR (Raghuram Rajan), school dropout rates are down, college enrollment increased, huge jobs created, wrong comparison about child subsidy given over many years, to annual spend on HE.”
Rajan, a professor of finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, emphasized the need for sustained efforts to achieve 8 percent growth in India. He also questioned the government’s priorities, suggesting a greater focus on fixing the education system rather than pursuing high-profile projects like chip manufacturing.
