27 Mar 2009

Cloning Mr Reddy. a.k.a. The West Knows Best!

For adhering to the general view more staunchly than was expected by a mere governor of a central bank, the Reserve Bank of India and its then Governor, Dr Y. V. Reddy, drew enormous flak. Such was the bad blood that was created — largely by hired guns — that even his deputy governor, Dr Rakesh Mohan, was not spared. In the end, the campaign came in the way of his becoming Governor.
He was, it is reliably learnt, seen as being a “Reddy clone”. Ironically, today, every central banker in the world is dying to be labelled a “Reddy clone.”
And these are relevant questions too:
Why is it that if India has an approach to something, Indian economists wait for it to be validated by the West before they accept it? Indeed, why do they attack the Indians who advocate that view before such validation is bestowed by the West? I genuinely believe that the Finance Ministry, which funded the Mistry report, and the Planning Commission, which funded the Raghuram Rajan report, have some serious explaining to do. As indeed do the economists who toed their line and kept up LeT like attacks on the RBI.
Could it be because we have our own share of maroons, blowhards, people with hidden agendas, and people talking their books? Or is it just that we believe the west knows best?

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