Meghnad Desai

Born On: 10th July, 1940
Born In: Vadodara in Gujarat
Career: Economist

Meghnad Desai is a famous development economist and an active Labour politician, who is associated with number of prestigious originations. Born and educated in India, the talent of Desai remained noticeable even from his childhood. After receiving his PhD at young age, he worked in number of institutes and organizations. Serving as the columnist of number of reputed papers and as writer of internationally acclaimed book, Desai is one of the best economist and writer of this world. During his early years of carrier he has taught number of subjects in London School of Economics (LSE). Meghnad Jagdish Chandra Desai is also an outstanding speaker in the British House of Lord. Recently he served as the director of the Center for the Study of Global Governance and also works as a professor at the London School of Economics. Read further to know about Meghnad Desai life and career in detail.

Early Life
Meghnad Desai was born on the 10th July, 1940 in Vadodara, Gujarat. He had two brothers and two sisters, whom he grew up with. Meghnad was extremely brilliant since his childhood days. He went to secondary school at the age of five and completed his matriculation at 14 years of age.

After his preliminary education, Meghnad joined the Mumbai School of Economics where he completed his postgraduation. His parents wanted him to appear for the civil service exams but because he was underage, this could not be carried forward. Later, he won a scholarship to University of Pennsylvania. As a result of this, he left India in 1960 and moved to the US. Meghnad acquired his Ph.D. in 1963.

In 1970, he married Gail Wilson, who was his LSE colleague and the daughter of George Ambler Wilson. Together, the couple had three children. However this marriage was unsuccessful. During the process of his prominent book, 'Nehru's Hero', Desai met Kishwar Ahluwalia, the editor. On 24th July, 2004, he married Kishwar at a register office in London.

Career
In the early years of his career, Desai worked as an Associate Specialist in the Agricultural Economics Department of the California University in Berkeley. By 1965, he went to England and became a lecturer at the London School of Economics. He taught macroeconomics, econometrics and Marxian economics to students.

Apart from teaching, Desai has also written several books. His first book Marxian Economic Theory was published in 1973, followed by Applied Econometrics in 1976. Testing Monetarism was a book that he wrote based on the concept of monetarism. This attracted readers from all around the world. Another work of his called Marx's Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism published in 2002, described globalization and the revival of socialism. Some of the other noted publications by Desai are Ideology of the New Terror, The Route to All Evil: The Political Economy of Ezra Pound, Dead on Time and The Rediscovery of India.

Meghnad Desai has also drafted several articles in academic journals and newspapers, which slowly became regular columns. Some of the papers he has worked are: British Radical Weekly Tribune from 1985 to 1994, Indian Business Daily between 1995 and 2001 and recently, he worked for Indian Express and Financial Express. In 1995, two of his academic papers were selected and published in two volumes, named as The Selected Essays of Meghnad Desai.

Desai's famous work, Nehru's Hero is based on the biography of Indian film star, Dilip Kumar. In this book, he describes the social and political effects of India in cinema. He also discusses how films portray India in a new perspective.

This great economist worked as an active member for number of parties and organizations such as the British Labour Party, Finsbury Constituency Labour Party and Islington South. He was made a life time peer of St. Clement Danes in Westminster and was honored as 'Baron Desai'.

In 2003, he retired from the directorial position of Study of Global Governance that was founded in London. Currently, he is a professor emeritus at LSE.

Timeline
1940: Meghnad Desai was born in Vadodra, Gujarat.
1960: He earned a scholarship at University of Pennsylvania and thus left India.
1963: He received a Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania University.
1965: Started his career as a lecturer at London School of Economics.
1970: Desai married Gail Wilson.
1973: Marxian Economic Theory was his first book that was published
1985: Started working for the British Radical Weekly Tribune.
1991: Meghnad was adjudged 'Baron Desai' of St. Clement Danes in Westminster.
1995: Started a regular column in the Indian Business Daily and two of her papers were published in 'The Selected Essays of Meghnad Desai'.
2002: 'Marx's Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism' become popular in print form.
2003: Desai resigned from the Study of Global Governance as Director.
2004: He married his second wife Kishwar Ahluwalia.