'Not everyday you get a shoutout...': How this economist's desire to work with Raghuram Rajan came true

Ten years ago, Rohit Lamba, undertaking his PhD in Economics at Princeton University in 2012, expressed his wish to work for Raghuram Rajan, the then Chief Economic Advisor of India, for free. The story has come full circle now, as the two economists have worked together to co-author a book that envisages an improved economic future for India.

While recollecting the incident, the former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor took to LinkedIn to express his thoughts on the same. He wrote, "I met Dr. Rohit Lamba over a decade ago, when I was India's Chief Economic Advisor, and he wrote to me as a Ph.D. student from Princeton, wanting to work for free in the Finance Ministry just to make a contribution to the nation. Since then, we stayed in touch and really started working together during the pandemic."

According to his LinkedIn bio, Lamba worked part-time as an adviser to the Office of the Chief Economic Advisor from November 2012 to June 2013 and from December 2014 to February 2015.

The pair would go on to write op-eds for newspapers before publishing a book called 'Breaking the Mould' with Penguin Random House India.

"Rohit is a great theoretical economist, who also has a strong practical sense," Raghuram Rajan said. "He is passionate about India and its development, as hopefully comes out in the pages of the book. He speaks here about the Indian success stories that we write about."

Rajan, while speaking about his upcoming book, said, "India is at a critical juncture. the decisions we make now will determine its economic future, either for the good or the bad. Our book outlines India's options -- it can either blindly follow outdated paths that other countries took, or it can chart a uniquely Indian way."

Raghuram Rajan is a renowned Indian economist who has held several prestigious positions, including Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He is known for his expertise in macroeconomics, financial economics, and international economics.

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