Passing of a great mind

BORN in Punjab, India, the late Prof Ajit Singh (pic) of Cambridge University who passed away on June 23, 2015 was a beacon of heterodox economics.

Despite being exposed to neoliberal concepts and taught by some of its key advocates whom he regarded with the highest respect, (which included Manmohan Singh when he studied for his bachelor’s degree at Punjab University and Dale Jorgenson when he pursued his master’s degree at Harvard University), Ajit Singh’s thinking was shaped by the real world rather than constructs erected through unreal assumptions. While his honesty kept his steering in the direction of evidence, his intelligence ensured that his critics took him seriously and his sense of loyalty guaranteed him friendship among thousands of admirers.