My book entitled, "In Search of Stability: Economics of Money, History of the Rupee" should be out soon. As the title suggests, I have traced the history of the rupee from 1542 to 1971 and added an epilogue which extends the study up to present times, All this is done from a positive economics standpoint. The book, however, does not take a critical stand on the colonial regime by asking what would have happened if things had been different; say, for instance, if India would have been better off had we moved on to a gold standard instead of the gold exchange standard in the late 19th century. Rather we explore what the gold exchange standard was and its implications of price and exchange rate stability for India. With this understanding, students and economic historians could pose more critical questions for further study. The book has been accepted for publication by Manohar Book Publishers, New Delhi, India.
After completing the book I was keen to further explore the more recent history of the rupee, specifically post-1971. It is while to trying to find a suitable theoretical framework within which I could place my study that I came across Modern Money Theory or MMT. Over the last few months I have gone through several books, blogs and videos by the main proponents of MMT. It's not only fascinating but has opened up a whole new world for me. I had studied Keynesian macroeoconomics during my M.A. at Bombay (now Mumbai) University but was then exposed to a completely different macroeconomics at Cornell while doing my Ph.D.; if I recollect rightly it was dynamic optimization (micro was supposedly static optimization). Confused about what I was really learning from all those models, my interests shifted altogether to political economy. Luckily for me I got back to teaching Macroeconomics 101 to management students in India and have been able to hold on to simple Keynesian theory.
My interest in the economic history of the rupee and Keynesian macroeconomics somehow comes together when I read through the literature on MMT. As I mentioned, it has opened a new window for me to understand fiscal and monetary policies in India today.
I will share things that I come across from sources including newspapers, magazines and TV that I think are important and need a re-look. I do not intend to make any theoretical contribution to MMT right now at least; those interested could Google "modern money theory" and easily find material from the masters. I think there is a dire need of MMT for India; this is where I hope to make some contribution.
