Deepak (Kumar) Lal (born January 3, 1940) is a British development economist of Indian origin who was once a junior member of India's diplomatic corps. Lal was born in Lahore in 1940. He graduated in History from Delhi University's St. Stephens College in 1959; later at Jesus College, Oxford he received the B.A. (Honours) degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1962, and the B. Phil in Economics in 1965. He held academic positions at Oxford and later University College London. He has been most recently James S. Coleman Professor of International Development Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a research fellow at the Independent Institute[1] and president of the Mont Pelerin Society.[2]
His most noted book is perhaps the polemical The Poverty of "Development Economics" and more recent books and articles on development economics include Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Factor Endowments, Culture, and Politics on Long-Run Economic Performance, Reviving the Invisible Hand: The Case for Classical Liberalism in the Twenty first Century, In Praise of Empires: Globalization and Order, and The Hindu Equilibrium: India c. 1500 B.C.-2000 A.D..