Ex-RBI guv Raghuram Rajan on list of front runners for Nobel Prize in Economics

Mumbai: While all eyes are on the announcement of the Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, Indians have a reason to rejoice as former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan features on the list of probable winners.

The announcement is due in Stockholm on Monday.

Rajan is a part of the list compiled by Clarivate Analytics, which publishes names of the possible Nobel Prize winners based on research citations.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the reason for Rajan's entry into the list is his "contributions illuminating the dimensions of decisions in corporate finance”.

Rajan, who is the youngest and the first non-westerner to become the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, served as India’s central bank governor from 2013 to 2016.  He is also credited for having predicted the global economic meltdown of 2008.

The former RBI governor also featured on Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” list in 2016 and received the prestigious Fischer Black Prize, awarded every two years by the American Finance Association.

Recently, his book “I Do What I Do” has been making quite a stir as it sheds light on the many controversies raised after his departure from the central bank in 2016, just before the Modi government launched the note ban move. In his book, he said that he had cautioned the government that short-term costs of the note ban would outweigh its long-term benefits.

Rajan, who is currently a professor at the University of Chicago, has also been vocal about social issues like beef ban and rising intolerance in the society.