Contributor : Profile
Arvind Subramanian is Professor of Economics at Ashoka University. Prior to joining Ashoka University, Subramanian was a Visiting Lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and non-resident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). He is the former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. Previously, he was the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the PIIE, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development and Senior Research Professor at Johns Hopkins University. He had served at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1992, most recently as Assistant Director in the research department (2004–07). He worked at the GATT (1988–92) during the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations and taught at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (1999–2000). During his career at the Fund, he worked on trade, development, Africa, India, and the Middle East.
Subramanian has written on growth, trade, development, institutions, aid, oil, India, Africa, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and intellectual property. He has published widely in academic and other journals. He is the author of Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China’s Economic Dominance and other books on climate change, India, and trade. He obtained his undergraduate degree from St. Stephens College, Delhi; M.B.A. from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India; and M.Phil. and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford.
Posts by Arvind Subramanian
An Indian trade paradox
India’s trading partners often complain about the restrictiveness of India’s trade regime. This column argues that they are both right and wrong. While India´s economy is ‘closed’ in terms of...
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Arvind Subramanian
09 April, 2014
- Articles
Why taxing property is essential for local government accountability
With rapid decentralisation and urbanisation, wealth is increasingly vested and locked up in land and property in India. In their previous article, Kapur and Subramanian emphasised the importance of ...
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Devesh Kapur
Arvind Subramanian
03 March, 2014
- Perspectives
Taxation's fatal neglect?
Today, the public discourse on government finances in India is largely focused on spending. This article emphasises the importance of taxes, particularly income tax, in ensuring citizen participation...
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Devesh Kapur
Arvind Subramanian
14 February, 2014
- Perspectives
Four changes to trade rules to facilitate climate change action
Global climate cooperation has collapsed but the need for action has not disappeared. This column argues that only radical technological progress can reconcile climate-change goals with development. ...
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Aaditya Mattoo
Arvind Subramanian
24 January, 2014
- Articles
India's unique crisis - a short term fix
While the current turbulence in the Indian economy bears a resemblance to the situation of other emerging economies, it is unique when compared with historical experiences of economic crises. In thei...
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Devesh Kapur
Arvind Subramanian
20 December, 2013
- Perspectives
India's unique crisis
While the current turbulence in the Indian economy bears a resemblance to the situation of other emerging economies, it is unique when compared with historical experiences of economic crises. In the ...
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Devesh Kapur
Arvind Subramanian
16 December, 2013
- Perspectives
The Reserve Bank's mission impossible?
India’s current inflation is unprecedentedly high – not in absolute terms but relative to the rest of the world. This article discusses the role of inflation in the recent currency crisis, and ar...
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Arvind Subramanian
29 November, 2013
- Perspectives
What saved the rupee?
This article analyses the dramatic fall of the rupee between May and August this year, and its recovery thereafter. It asserts that it was primarily external factors and an unconventional interventio...
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Arvind Subramanian
06 November, 2013
- Perspectives
Underperforming even in good times
The late Professor Raj Krishna´s term ‘Hindu growth rate’ was an aptly pejorative description of India´s economic performance in the post-independence period. But how has India performed in the ...
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Arvind Subramanian
14 June, 2013
- Articles
India's disputed ruling on pharmaceuticals and patents
On April 1 2013, the Supreme Court of India rejected the attempt by Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, to patent a new version of the leukemia drug Glivec. The verdict follows previous rulin...
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Arvind Subramanian
10 April, 2013
- Perspectives
Why Nations Fail: And why India and China don’t fit the story
‘Why Nations Fail’ by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson is becoming a must-read for development economists. But this column argues that the central thesis of the book fails to explain two big deve...
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Arvind Subramanian
01 February, 2013
- Articles
US-China relations: Role reversal will slow climate change
This column proposes a new approach to climate change that involves China, and eventually other developing countries, offering inducements to the West to take steps to foster a private-sector led gree...
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Aaditya Mattoo
Arvind Subramanian
23 January, 2013
- Articles