Shankar Acharya

In 1967 he graduated from Oxford University and in 1972 he was awarded PhD in Economics by Harvard University. His 1972 PhD dissertation is available under: "Acharya, Shankar Nath, Some aspects of imperfections in primary factor markets of less developed countries"

He worked with the World Bank in various capacities since 1971, before returning to India in 1982. He was the leader of the team which produced the 1979 `World Development Report'.

His most significant assignment was as the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (in the rank of Secretary) between 1993 and 2001. He was also on the board of SEBI and EXIM Bank of India during the period. He also served as a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (2001–2003) and the Twelfth Finance Commission (2004). His previous assignments with the Government of India include the roles of Senior Adviser (rank of Additional Secretary) and Economic Adviser with the Finance ministry from 1985 to 1990.

Dr. Acharya left Finance Ministry in 2001. Since then, he has been associated with ICRIER and a number of other institutions. At present, he also serves on the governing boards of other national research organizations and the Advisory Committee on Monetary Policy of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is a member of several advisory corporate boards and writes a fortnightly column for the financial daily, Business Standard. He has authored numerous scholarly papers and several books. His three most recent books are: Essays on Macroeconomic Policy and Growth in India (Oxford University Press, 2006), Can India Grow without Bharat? (Academic Foundation, 2007) and India and Global Crisis (Academic Foundation, 2009).

He was the Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford University in 2000 and Stanford University in 2002.

• A column by Shankar Acharya