New Delhi: From his early research on trade theory in Delhi to his emergence as one of the world’s most prominent advocates of free trade, economist Jagdish Bhagwati’s life and ideas will be the subject of a new biography by fellow economist and longtime friend Arvind Panagariya, the chairman of the 16th Finance Commission.
Penguin Random House India on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Jagdish Bhagwati: A Life in Economics and Ideas, scheduled for publication under its Viking imprint in January 2027.
The biography follows a career stretching from the late 1950s to the early 2020s, tracing the evolution of Bhagwati’s thinking on international trade alongside the personal experiences and professional relationships that shaped it. It brings together his academic work, engagement with policymakers, and interventions in public debates on the global economy.
Bhagwati’s academic journey took him from India to Cambridge, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Oxford. He returned to India in 1961, teaching at the Indian Statistical Institute and the Delhi School of Economics, before joining MIT’s faculty in 1968 and moving to Columbia University in 1980.
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Mentor, friend, guiding light
The book examines his early research in Delhi, including his papers on trade theory in the 1960s, and his subsequent emergence as a prominent voice for free trade in international newspapers and academic journals. Alongside this intellectual history, it explores his encounters with economists including Harry Johnson, Joan Robinson, Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow.
Bhagwati’s career also extended beyond universities: he served as economic policy adviser to GATT director-general Arthur Dunkel, advised the World Trade Organization and participated in an advisory committee to former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan.
Panagariya, the first vice-chairman of NITI Aayog, draws on his long association with Bhagwati to offer a personal account of the economist’s life. The biography is based partly on around 18 hour-long conversations held when Bhagwati was in his 92nd year, bringing his recollections, humour and perspective on economics into the narrative.
Those conversations provide a personal thread through a career otherwise often described through academic appointments, influential papers and policy arguments. They also give Panagariya a way to connect Bhagwati’s ideas with his memories of the people and institutions around him.
“It has been a rare privilege to know Jagdish Bhagwati not just as a guiding light in my field of specialization, but also as a mentor and friend,” Panagariya said in a statement. He described writing the biography as one of the most fulfilling experiences of his life.
The author’s relationship with his subject also extends to a shared body of work. Bhagwati and Panagariya co-authored Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries, adding an established intellectual partnership to the friendship behind the biography.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)