Famous As Economist and Educator
Born On 26 July, 1934
Born In Mumbai, India
Nationality Indian
Professor Jagdish Bhagwati is an Indian born American economic professor and one of the primo international trade economists of his times. University Professor of Economics and Law at Columbia University and Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, Bhagwati is best known for his espousal of free global trade. An active counselor for the United Nation, WTO and chairman of the UNCTAD Panel of Eminent Persons on "Development-centered Globalization, he enjoys a distinguished reputation on the international front among his peers. He has been conferred six Festschrifts, honorary degrees and several awards including the Freedom Prize, the Bernhard Harms Prize, the Thomas Schelling Award, and Padma Vibhushan. His unautocratic approach towards capitalistic economy and his strong disapproval of state interference over trade regulations, taxes and traffic have grabbed him lot of good and bad press. Apart from being a teacher and an advisor, Professor Bhagwati is quite a distinguished writer and columnist who has written nearly 300 articles and is a regular columnist for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times.
Early Life
Jagdish Bhagwati was born in a Gujarati family in the year 1934 in Mumbai. He graduated from Sydenham College in Mumbai and then went on to study economics at St John's College at Cambridge in London. He completed his Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967. His two siblings, P.N. Bhagwati and S.N. Bhagwati are distinguished public figures. His brother P.N. Bhagwati was the former Chief Justice of India, while his other sibling S.N. Bhagwati is a renowned neurosurgeon.
Career
Jagdish began his career as a lecturer to support himself before he established himself as a distinguished economist. He started his career by teaching in Indian Statistical Institute and Delhi School of Economics before he moved on to teach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later at Columbia University. During his years as a professor, Jagdish did extensive research on democratic economic strategies. Apart from this, he has been a part of the prestigious panel of advisors for various international economic organizations. Besides, guiding the Director General of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, he has served as the special advisor of United Nations on globalization. He has also served as an independent counselor to the director generals of the WTO. Over the years, his economic expertise on diverse issues has been sought after by several nations around the globe. He has been a part of the Copenhagen Consensus project that was based on the welfare ideologies of economics. In 2010, he was appointed as the important counseling member for migrant rights in Indonesia. Currently, Jagdish Bhagwati is on the advisory board for Academic Advisory Board of Human Rights Watch (Asia), Centre for Civil Society and a fellow member of Council on Foreign Relations. Jagdish has penned his democratic stance in various books and journals such as 'In Defense of Globalization', 'Free Trade Today', 'The Wind of the Hundred Days', 'A Stream of Windows', 'India in Transition', 'World Trading System at Risk', 'Protectionism', 'Economics & Politics', 'The Journal of International Economics', etc. are some of his best publications.
Achievements and Awards
Professor Jagdish Bhagwati has been honored with many prestigious awards such as the Indian Econometric Society's Mahalanobis Memorial Medal in 1974. Seidman Distinguished Award in International Political Economy in 1998 and the distinguished Padma Vibhushan in 2000. The Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indian Chamber of Commerce was given to him in 2004 and the Japanese government granted him Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star award in 2006. Jagdish Bhagwati is a partisan whose contribution towards global economic welfare has been immense. He has worked under various economic conditions helping them to bring about a change in their situation, from some of the richest economies to the poorest in Africa and Asia. Jagdish has managed to bring about a productive change in these provinces.
Personal Life
Jagdish is married to Padma Desai, a well-known Columbian economist and the couple has a daughter.
Time Line
1934: He was born in Mumbai.
1956: He earned his degree from St John's University in Cambridge.
1961: After completing his Ph.D., he returned to India to teach for a few years.
1968: Jagdish returned to America to teach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1974: Indian Econometric Society's Mahalanobis Memorial Medal was granted to him.
1998: Received Seidman Distinguished Award in International Political Economy.
2000: He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
2001: Served as an advisor to the United Nations on globalization.
2004: "In Defense of Globalization" was published by him.
2010: Became the counselor for migrant rights in Indonesia.
