Subir Roy wrote succinctly about I G Patel’s views on how to tackle inflation. IG was not dogmatic about any economic ideology but was a believer in Karl Popper’s Open Society principles. His experience as director of London School of Economics is important to analyse again in the present context of volatility in the world economy. Policy-makers need to be flexible in the allocation of resources at margin. When an economic downturn is expected because of the downturn in the global market, policy-makers should be flexible to shift resources towards the “less tradable” rural sector in which growth is likely to be more equitable. This will also help in dampening inflation.
Chandrashekhar G Ranade, Washington DC
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