Bellikoth Ragunath Shenoy (1905–1978) was an Indian

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. He was a highly influential advocate of

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited governmen ...

in India and was President of the Indian Economic Association and a member of the

Mont Pelerin Society The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS), founded in 1947, is an international academic society of Economist, economists, Political philosophy, political philosophers, and other Intelligentsia, intellectuals who share a classical liberal outlook. It is hea ...

Biography

Shenoy was born near

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His forefathers were from Bellikoth village, near present day Ajanur in Kasargod district. He studied economics at

Benares Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and fou ...

and later at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

where he was highly influenced by

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...

. In particular, he heard Hayek deliver the lectures in January 1931 that became "Prices and Production," and that began the process of his adherence to the Austrian approach to economic theory and policy. In 1931 Shenoy became the first Indian economist to have a paper published in a leading scholarly journal. As a student, Shenoy participated in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

and was jailed at

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

where he was influenced by

Madan Mohan Malaviya Madan Mohan Malaviya (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946; ) was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and activist notable for his role in the Indian independence movement. He was president of the Indian National Congress three times and ...

Shenoy taught at Wadia College (Pune), the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the post graduate level. It is accredited A+ by NAAC ...

and the

. He also worked at the Ceylon Commission on Currency, the Ceylon Department of Commerce, the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

, the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. After leaving academia, Shenoy founded the Economic Research Centre in Delhi which advocated the ideas of

Economics

Dr. Shenoy's work on the "Sterling balances of Reserve Bank of India", written in 1946 was the first effort by any economist to accurately calculate the World War II expenses and actual value of foreign exchange reserve with Reserve Bank of India. He claimed 1724 Crore rupees with the Reserve Bank included foreign assets of commercial banks also. Shenoy suggested devaluation of Rupee for it to attain proper parity with Pound Sterling. In 1955, Shenoy was appointed to the Panel of Economists who were to appraise

Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a prin ...

's ambitious Second Five-Year Plan, the one that aimed at "heavy industrialisation." He was the only one to submit a "Note of Dissent." Shenoy was of the opinion that India could not finance all the money needed for rapid industrialisation and may not be able to consume all the goods thus produced.Note of Dissent on the Memorandum of the Panel of Economists
/ref> Shenoy opined that governmental interventions in markets of all sort, though termed seasonal would end up forcing repeated interventions and would lead to distortions in production, price and storage of commodities. Shenoy was also critical of Nehru government's penchant for import-substitution, awarding licenses for industrial-production and central planning. Authority to award licenses would lead to corruption was his analysis.

Personal life

His daughter was Dr. Sudha Shenoy, Ph.D. who too was a trained economist in the mould of classical liberalism.

References

External links

20 years since India’s economic reforms
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shenoy, Bellikoth 20th-century Indian economists Scholars from Mangalore Mangaloreans 1905 births 1978 deaths Academic staff of Gujarat University Alumni of the London School of Economics