Guest Lectures
2018-19
Amb. Shyam Saran
On 30th August, 2018, Amb. Shyam Saran, Former Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, addressed the students of LSR on the topic, “An Ecologically Sustainable Growth Strategy for India”. he said that if we correlate environment with the economic concepts of stock and flow, the planet and its resources forms the stock, while policies for its optimum extraction and use can be treated as flow. According to him, the key to sustainable development is to not extract more than what can be regenerated.
On 30th August, 2018, Amb. Shyam Saran, Former Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, addressed the students of LSR on the topic, “An Ecologically Sustainable Growth Strategy for India”. he said that if we correlate environment with the economic concepts of stock and flow, the planet and its resources forms the stock, while policies for its optimum extraction and use can be treated as flow. According to him, the key to sustainable development is to not extract more than what can be regenerated.
Dr. Jayati Ghosh
Dr. Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, addressed LSR students on the topic, “Why Should Young Women be Interested in Economics?” on 27th September, 2018, where issues of creating an ‘imputed value for women’s labour’, maternity leave, issues of intersectionality (caste and class) and reservation for women were debated upon. By the end of the lecture, the need for women pursuing and understanding economics was felt by everyone.
Dr. Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, addressed LSR students on the topic, “Why Should Young Women be Interested in Economics?” on 27th September, 2018, where issues of creating an ‘imputed value for women’s labour’, maternity leave, issues of intersectionality (caste and class) and reservation for women were debated upon. By the end of the lecture, the need for women pursuing and understanding economics was felt by everyone.
A workshop on Open Data by World Bank
A workshop was conducted by Ms. Sunita Malhotra, Information Specialist at World Bank, in collaboration with the Mentored Research Forum, on 1st November, 2018. She guided the students on how to access the “Open Data” provided by the World Bank on it website, giving a brief overview of the endless stream of authentic data that can be used by students for research purposes.
A workshop was conducted by Ms. Sunita Malhotra, Information Specialist at World Bank, in collaboration with the Mentored Research Forum, on 1st November, 2018. She guided the students on how to access the “Open Data” provided by the World Bank on it website, giving a brief overview of the endless stream of authentic data that can be used by students for research purposes.
Ms. Caroline Casagandre
On 7th March, 2019, the Department of Economics welcomed the team of Ms. Caroline Casagrande,Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs, US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The speakers discussed the bilateral relations between India and the United States, apart from taking up student queries on higher education funding in the US.
On 7th March, 2019, the Department of Economics welcomed the team of Ms. Caroline Casagrande,Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs, US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The speakers discussed the bilateral relations between India and the United States, apart from taking up student queries on higher education funding in the US.
Mr. Harinder S. Sikka
On 9th April, 2019, we had the unique honour of having a storyteller par excellence, Mr. Harinder S. Sikka, Group Director, Strategic business, Piramal Group, address the department. Author of the now famous Calling Sehmat and producer of many genre defying movies, Mr. Sikka wove life lessons, anecdotes and common knowledge in beautiful stories, leaving his audience feeling enraptured and empowered.
On 9th April, 2019, we had the unique honour of having a storyteller par excellence, Mr. Harinder S. Sikka, Group Director, Strategic business, Piramal Group, address the department. Author of the now famous Calling Sehmat and producer of many genre defying movies, Mr. Sikka wove life lessons, anecdotes and common knowledge in beautiful stories, leaving his audience feeling enraptured and empowered.
Dr. Pulapre Balakrishnan: The Monetary Policy Function in the Draft Indian Financial Code
Professor of Economics, Ashoka University | 06 August 2015
The Economics Department of the Lady Sri Ram College for Women kick-started its new academic year by inviting Dr. Pulapre Balakrishnan to talk on ‘The Monetary Policy function in the Draft Indian Financial Code’.
Pulapre Balakrishnan brought to light some interesting clauses of the draft Indian Financial Code (IFC), which was released on 23rd July, 2015. According to the draft IFC, the RBI should shift from multiple indicator approach to ‘inflation targeting’ i.e. the Central Bank has an explicit target inflation rate for the medium term and announces this inflation target to the public. The government and RBI, for a change, see eye to eye on this occasion.
The underlying assumption behind this is that the monetary policy can support long-term growth of the economy by maintaining price stability. An important question that Dr. Balakrishnan brought up was whether or not the Central Bank should be concerned with financial stability and how far does inflation targeting guarantee this stability.
As far as inflation targeting goes, Dr. Balakrishnan feels that if the RBI is to be held accountable, then it should also be given enough power to set the interest rates. The global financial crisis has taught us that inflation targeting is no guarantee of financial stability and it is parochial to focus on price stability alone.
He stated a very prominent example: the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008 which froze the entire credit market. In the aftermath of the GFC, the suffering nations gave more autonomy to their Central Bank, with most nations keeping inflation targeting the prime policy for their respective central banks. While talking of the GFC, one tool for curbing systemic risk that comes to mind is macroprudential regulation. The term macroprudential regulation characterizes the approach to financial regulation aimed at mitigating the risk of the financial system as a whole. Central banks are increasingly encouraged to develop complementary macroprudential and monetary policies. Tools of macroprudential regulations include cap on debt-to-income ratio, cap on leverage etc. These targeted rules aim at reducing instability across the financial system.
An autonomous monetary policy is a prerequisite for a robust financial system. Banking regulation, monetary policy and foreign exchange management are intertwined and any move to create a dichotomy between them will fail to achieve the set goals. The distinction between the powers bestowed upon the central banks of USA and Germany was also discussed. The Federal Reserve, which is not an inflation targeting central bank, has been given a clear mandate by the government to maximize employment, maintain price stability and moderate long term interest rate. On the other hand, the European Central Bank and Deutsche Bank primarily focus on inflation targeting. Dr. Balakrishnan rightly said that employment should be our target and provided empirical data to substantiate his arguments.
One interesting thing he reflected upon was a statement by Abba Lerner which says, ―In the long run we are simply in another short run‖. Though inflation targeting is not a wrong path to take, monetary policy should be augmented with a wider mandate such as that of the Fed’s.
Professor of Economics, Ashoka University | 06 August 2015
The Economics Department of the Lady Sri Ram College for Women kick-started its new academic year by inviting Dr. Pulapre Balakrishnan to talk on ‘The Monetary Policy function in the Draft Indian Financial Code’.
Pulapre Balakrishnan brought to light some interesting clauses of the draft Indian Financial Code (IFC), which was released on 23rd July, 2015. According to the draft IFC, the RBI should shift from multiple indicator approach to ‘inflation targeting’ i.e. the Central Bank has an explicit target inflation rate for the medium term and announces this inflation target to the public. The government and RBI, for a change, see eye to eye on this occasion.
The underlying assumption behind this is that the monetary policy can support long-term growth of the economy by maintaining price stability. An important question that Dr. Balakrishnan brought up was whether or not the Central Bank should be concerned with financial stability and how far does inflation targeting guarantee this stability.
As far as inflation targeting goes, Dr. Balakrishnan feels that if the RBI is to be held accountable, then it should also be given enough power to set the interest rates. The global financial crisis has taught us that inflation targeting is no guarantee of financial stability and it is parochial to focus on price stability alone.
He stated a very prominent example: the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008 which froze the entire credit market. In the aftermath of the GFC, the suffering nations gave more autonomy to their Central Bank, with most nations keeping inflation targeting the prime policy for their respective central banks. While talking of the GFC, one tool for curbing systemic risk that comes to mind is macroprudential regulation. The term macroprudential regulation characterizes the approach to financial regulation aimed at mitigating the risk of the financial system as a whole. Central banks are increasingly encouraged to develop complementary macroprudential and monetary policies. Tools of macroprudential regulations include cap on debt-to-income ratio, cap on leverage etc. These targeted rules aim at reducing instability across the financial system.
An autonomous monetary policy is a prerequisite for a robust financial system. Banking regulation, monetary policy and foreign exchange management are intertwined and any move to create a dichotomy between them will fail to achieve the set goals. The distinction between the powers bestowed upon the central banks of USA and Germany was also discussed. The Federal Reserve, which is not an inflation targeting central bank, has been given a clear mandate by the government to maximize employment, maintain price stability and moderate long term interest rate. On the other hand, the European Central Bank and Deutsche Bank primarily focus on inflation targeting. Dr. Balakrishnan rightly said that employment should be our target and provided empirical data to substantiate his arguments.
One interesting thing he reflected upon was a statement by Abba Lerner which says, ―In the long run we are simply in another short run‖. Though inflation targeting is not a wrong path to take, monetary policy should be augmented with a wider mandate such as that of the Fed’s.
Dr. Ashwini Deshpande: Economics of Discrimination
Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics | 20 August 2015
The lecture started with deliberations on gender discrimination. Since the evolution of economics, the economic agents like the producer or the consumer have been referred to as he in all sources. Eventually the “trendier” pronoun became ‘she’ because of political and social demands. But the main stream economic theories still prefer to be predominantly patriarchal. Dr. Deshpande talked about the book “Identity and Economics” which focuses on how social identities govern the way people are supposed to behave and how it eventually shapes an economy. She emphasized different kinds of discrimination prevailing in the economy such as:
Taste discrimination: An individual exhibits a taste for discrimination against another when she/he behaves as if there is a non-pecuniary cost of associating with some persons over the others. An individual must be willing to pay something directly or in the form of decrease in income to be associated with some persons instead of others.
Statistical discrimination: Employers gather information about the productivity of potential employees. Given the cost of information, people typically make predictions about the behaviour of individuals based on their easily observable characteristics. Cultural factors like gender, caste, etc. come into play here.
Gender discrimination: In recent times, women have entered the paid workforce in growing numbers but a majority of them still perform most of the unpaid labour of housework and childcare (in conjunction to paid labour, in most cases). Though the cost of social reproduction is borne by women, the benefits are enjoyed by the society. Women working in male dominated jobs like trial lawyers, merchant navy, CEOs even, and so on, are looked down on and are termed as 'machos' as they don't fit into the arenas set by the society.
Reservations was another topic which the talk touched upon. Are reservations necessary? In such a caste, male, and statistics-oriented work force, reservations become the only tools available for the oppressed minorities. Is a person who scored a 99.75% from a top-notch school better than someone who laboured day and night to score an 80% from a school that lacked good teachers or good infrastructure? Does the latter not have a right to gain further education?
One might think that reservations in colleges and universities are enough to provide a jumpstart to anyone‘s career. Once you are in, say LSR, you wouldn‘t need further reservations to help you achieve your dream. But seldom does it happen that a person is judged solely on merit. Surnames, gender, marks, etc. continue to hinder development of an individual. In a society where women and backward classes are still looked down upon, reservations in the labour markets and workplaces also become a necessity.
The talk left everybody ruminating about how economics incorporates a scathing topic like 'discrimination' apart from the given and well-researched topics of interest rates, fiscal policy etc. The gathering acquiesced that certain groups are treated differently in market economies not because of their abilities but because of the entrenched social conventions.
25 August 2013
Dr. Sisir Debnath: Correlations vs. Causations
Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy, ISB | 03 September 2015
The talk focused on explaining the differences between correlation and causation. Correlation shows the relationship between two variables but does not imply causation. Whereas causation shows the relationship between two variables as cause and effect.
The lecture commenced with a story of a physician, John William Snow. Dr. Snow had long believed that water contaminated by sewage was the cause of cholera. Cholera, an intestinal disease than can cause death within hours after the first symptoms of vomiting or diarrhoea. He printed out a map of Soho district in London and marked a dot each, on the death of a person. Dr. Snow worked around the clock to track down information from hospital and public records on when the outbreak began and whether the victims drank water from the Broad Street pump. Snow suspected that those who lived or worked near the pump were the most likely to use the pump and thus contracted cholera. His pioneering medical research paid off. By using a geographical grid to chart deaths from the outbreak and investigating each case to determine access to the pump water, Snow developed what he considered positive proof the pump was the source of the epidemic. Snow was able to prove that the cholera was not common in Soho and was restricted to people who were in the habit of drinking water from the Broad Street pump. He also studied samples of water from the pump and found white flecks floating in it, which is believed to be the source of contamination. Thus, he not only established a correlation between cholera outbreaks and drinking water from that particular hand pump, he also managed to establish a causation.
The talk also dealt with the quality of education in developed countries. Despite having the status of 'developed country' the level of the education imparted is quite dismal. Regular absenteeism and miniscule efforts made by the teachers, size of the class and children with varying achievements are few of the reasons which attribute to this issue. Various NGOs in developing countries work in tandem with the government to ensure high quality education.
In 1994, one such NGO, Pratham launched the Balsakhi Program to help at-risk children to acquire the basic skills they need to participate in a classroom. The program provided tutors for at-risk children in government schools. The tutor, called a Balsakhi, or “child’s friend,” was typically a young woman hired from the local community. Balsakhis were paid between 500 and 750 rupees (US$10-15) a month. All the Balsakhis are given two weeks’ training at the beginning of the school year. The program targets children who have reached grades 3 and 4 without mastering grades 1 and 2 reading and math competencies.
Dr. Debnath concluded the session by talking about randomized control trials, pioneered by Dr. Esther Duflo and Dr. Abhijit Banerjee in their research. He drew on several examples from Poor Economics and spoke about the necessity to know which method of data collection to use for which circumstances.
3 August 201
Dr. Indradeep Ghosh: Why is the Euro in a crisis?
Associate Professor, Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics | 22 September 2015
Dr. Indradeep Ghosh offered an insightful and emphatic account on the Euro Crisis, dwelling on the multifaceted dimensions of the same which include output crisis, unemployment crisis, debt crisis, banking crisis et al. He began by outlining the initial intent of the adoption of a common currency in a lucid manner, broaching about its appeal to the rationale of economic integration with regard to the likely boost in trade and capital flows between nations, the reduced possibility of currency risks and a means of cheaper debt financing, and proceeded to explain how these objectives seem to have lost their essence in the light of the impending doom. Dr. Ghosh drew an effective parallel between the economies of different nations by putting forth a comprehensive data providing details of the Real GDP of different nations during the time period 2000-2013. This data revealed the inconvenient yet stark reality that the Eurozone has grown rather poorly at the rate of 12% over the last 13 years while world economy grew at an ambitious high of 43%. The demographics further revealed that poor growth over the last decade was not merely endemic to the European Union but seemed to have chafed the Western advanced economies in general. Dr. Ghosh successively discussed “the before” and “the after” scenarios of the GIPSI (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy) countries versus Germany and how the benefits seem to be skewed in the favour of the latter after the 2007 crisis. Germany as he described was the “sick man” of Europe during the period 2001-2006 grappling with grave recession and a high unemployment rate which loomed at 11.5%. However after 2007-08, the implementation of austerity measures coupled with wage deflation, enabled the German economy to regain competitiveness while its GIPSI counterparts were marred with the scourges of youth unemployment at about 60-70% though these economies had experienced a surge in wages at a rate of 200% during the nascent stages of the adoption of the EU. He also spoke of how these deplorable conditions that have caused an upheaval in Greece could have been avoided if only the fall in interest rates was used to pay off Greece’s existing public debt instead of raising expenditure by increasing borrowings. As a consequence of increased borrowings, property prices rose accompanied by a rise in price of goods and uncommonly high wages in the public sector which rendered the GIPSI economies less competitive. The lecture progressed to highlight the possible solutions to the crisis, a few of them being hard budget constraints, restructuring debt, recapitalising banks and, most importantly, making allowances for the economies to exit the European Union with the possibility of re-entering in the future. He further pointed out that the European Central Bank seems to have faltered in its approach towards the containment of the Euro crisis by adopting a strategy of “bail out” instead of “bail in”. Bailing out would mean an artificial restoration of solvency by purchasing non-performing assets at inflated prices whereas bail in would connote the infusion of fresh capital by roping in new equity players.
The lecture concluded with an interactive session where students exhibited a keen quest for knowledge and requested the professor to dwell a little deeper on potent issues like the need for privatization of state assets in Greece, the creation of an emergency fund to provide for basic amenities at reasonable prices in an attempt to make Grexit least painful, the difficulty in incorporation of wage deflation in Greece owing to high household debts and the external pressure of Federal interest rates on the Euro.
Dr. Indradeep Ghosh: Why is the Euro in a crisis?
Associate Professor, Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics | 22 September 2015
Dr. Indradeep Ghosh offered an insightful and emphatic account on the Euro Crisis, dwelling on the multifaceted dimensions of the same which include output crisis, unemployment crisis, debt crisis, banking crisis et al. He began by outlining the initial intent of the adoption of a common currency in a lucid manner, broaching about its appeal to the rationale of economic integration with regard to the likely boost in trade and capital flows between nations, the reduced possibility of currency risks and a means of cheaper debt financing, and proceeded to explain how these objectives seem to have lost their essence in the light of the impending doom. Dr. Ghosh drew an effective parallel between the economies of different nations by putting forth a comprehensive data providing details of the Real GDP of different nations during the time period 2000-2013. This data revealed the inconvenient yet stark reality that the Eurozone has grown rather poorly at the rate of 12% over the last 13 years while world economy grew at an ambitious high of 43%. The demographics further revealed that poor growth over the last decade was not merely endemic to the European Union but seemed to have chafed the Western advanced economies in general. Dr. Ghosh successively discussed “the before” and “the after” scenarios of the GIPSI (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy) countries versus Germany and how the benefits seem to be skewed in the favour of the latter after the 2007 crisis. Germany as he described was the “sick man” of Europe during the period 2001-2006 grappling with grave recession and a high unemployment rate which loomed at 11.5%. However after 2007-08, the implementation of austerity measures coupled with wage deflation, enabled the German economy to regain competitiveness while its GIPSI counterparts were marred with the scourges of youth unemployment at about 60-70% though these economies had experienced a surge in wages at a rate of 200% during the nascent stages of the adoption of the EU. He also spoke of how these deplorable conditions that have caused an upheaval in Greece could have been avoided if only the fall in interest rates was used to pay off Greece’s existing public debt instead of raising expenditure by increasing borrowings. As a consequence of increased borrowings, property prices rose accompanied by a rise in price of goods and uncommonly high wages in the public sector which rendered the GIPSI economies less competitive. The lecture progressed to highlight the possible solutions to the crisis, a few of them being hard budget constraints, restructuring debt, recapitalising banks and, most importantly, making allowances for the economies to exit the European Union with the possibility of re-entering in the future. He further pointed out that the European Central Bank seems to have faltered in its approach towards the containment of the Euro crisis by adopting a strategy of “bail out” instead of “bail in”. Bailing out would mean an artificial restoration of solvency by purchasing non-performing assets at inflated prices whereas bail in would connote the infusion of fresh capital by roping in new equity players.
The lecture concluded with an interactive session where students exhibited a keen quest for knowledge and requested the professor to dwell a little deeper on potent issues like the need for privatization of state assets in Greece, the creation of an emergency fund to provide for basic amenities at reasonable prices in an attempt to make Grexit least painful, the difficulty in incorporation of wage deflation in Greece owing to high household debts and the external pressure of Federal interest rates on the Euro.
Dr. Subir Gokarn: Indian Growth – Short term drivers and long term challenges
Director of Research, Brookings India | 03 November 2015
The lecture aimed to give a broad overview of the current global economic scenario with special focus on Indian growth and development. The lecture began with a general analysis of the western and emerging economies. Dr Gokarn talked about the role of the European economy before and after the Euro crisis. He stressed on the Chinese economy: its policy of devaluation and abolition of one child policy. Post this general discussion, he analysed the steps which could be adopted to speed up India’s growth drivers. According to him, the first phase should comprise of stabilising macroeconomic policies. This step should entail inflation targeting, managing the Current Account deficit and attempting to lower the fiscal deficit. The second phase should constitute of managing long term indicators- building capacity for infrastructure in the country, ensuring food security and control of food inflation and creation of employment opportunities for people. The session concluded with a summary of the steps that the government and monetary authority have taken in this direction and the way forward. This was followed by a question-answer session where Dr Gokarn clarified doubts regarding his lecture.
Dr. Dipa Sinha: Hunger Amidst Plenty: Role of National Food Security Act
Governing Board Member, Centre for Equity Studies | 18 February 2016
Economics Department of LSR organised a guest lecture by Dr. Dipa Sinha from Centre for Equity Studies on the aspect of the need for the National Food Security Act in India.
To substantiate the need for an act such as NFSA in India, Dr. Dipa Sinha provided with data on malnutrition pertaining to stunted growth rates, India’s ranking on numerous health and malnutrition amongst the South Asian Countries. She drew a causal link with food insecurity and malnutrition.
After this, Dr. Dipa Sinha elaborated on the existing features of NFSA: universal school meals, ICDS, Public Distribution, programs and schemes that already existed but which were brought under the ambit of an umbrella scheme – NFSA.
She then went on to talk about the issues facing PDS while also indicating on how numerous states have shown positive increments in leakages and coverage under PDS in recent decades. She elaborated as to how cash transfers, recently being implemented by the government can have unwanted repercussions in leakage and problems in accessibility to banks, reversing the positive growth experienced under PDS.
Dr. Dipa Sinha further spoke about positive new features in NFSA, especially the importance of maternity entitlements and the great progressive impact it will have on young mothers and her children. She concluded her lecture by indicating certain challenges faced by NFSA and few ways to improve.
Governing Board Member, Centre for Equity Studies | 18 February 2016
Economics Department of LSR organised a guest lecture by Dr. Dipa Sinha from Centre for Equity Studies on the aspect of the need for the National Food Security Act in India.
To substantiate the need for an act such as NFSA in India, Dr. Dipa Sinha provided with data on malnutrition pertaining to stunted growth rates, India’s ranking on numerous health and malnutrition amongst the South Asian Countries. She drew a causal link with food insecurity and malnutrition.
After this, Dr. Dipa Sinha elaborated on the existing features of NFSA: universal school meals, ICDS, Public Distribution, programs and schemes that already existed but which were brought under the ambit of an umbrella scheme – NFSA.
She then went on to talk about the issues facing PDS while also indicating on how numerous states have shown positive increments in leakages and coverage under PDS in recent decades. She elaborated as to how cash transfers, recently being implemented by the government can have unwanted repercussions in leakage and problems in accessibility to banks, reversing the positive growth experienced under PDS.
Dr. Dipa Sinha further spoke about positive new features in NFSA, especially the importance of maternity entitlements and the great progressive impact it will have on young mothers and her children. She concluded her lecture by indicating certain challenges faced by NFSA and few ways to improve.