Sanjeev Sanyal

Sanjeev Sanyal is an Indian economist, bestselling writer, environmentalist, and urban theorist. Currently he is the Principal Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.^[1][2] He is widely regarded as one of Asia's leading economists and was Deutsche Bank's Global Strategist and a Managing Director till 2015.^[3][4][5] A Rhodes Scholar and Eisenhower Fellow, he was named "Young Global Leader 2010" by the World Economic Forum at Davos.^[6] He is also the author of four best selling books "The Indian Renaissance: India's Rise after a Thousand Years of Decline" (published by Penguin and World Scientific),^[7] "Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India's Geography", published by Penguin in 2012.,^[8] "The Incredible History of India's Geography" published by Puffin in 2015 and The Ocean of Churn: How human history was shaped by the Indian Ocean (Penguin, 2016).^[9]

Career

Sanyal has worked in financial markets since the mid-nineties. He was Managing Director and Global Strategist at Deutsche Bank till 2015 and is considered one of the world's leading financial sector economists.^[10][11][12] His writings on the global economy and financial markets are widely read and quoted in the world of international finance. In 2013, he took on the United Nations Population Division in a high-profile debate on its population projections.^[13] Sanyal argued that the UN's widely used population forecasts were fundamentally flawed. Sanyal is also known for arguing that conventional economists are wrong to demand perpetual "global balance". His view is that all periods of economic growth are characterized by some form of symbiotic imbalance and that the focus should be on managing the distortions caused by the imbalance rather than forcing a return to some preconceived equilibrium. Therefore, his view is that the next round of global growth will only be sustained if the rest of the world can find a way to absorb waves of cheap capital emanating from China. This implies a return to global imbalances.^[14]

Sanjeev Sanyal is also a well-known environmentalist and expert on the economics of cities.^[15] He has been a strong advocate of including "walkability" and organic evolution in the way we think of cities.^[16] He has been member of the Steering Committee of Urban Age at LSE Cities and is also a Senior Fellow of the World Wildlife Fund. He is the co-founder and Director of GIST - a think-tank that is a pioneer in the field of environmental accounting.^[17] He has been closely involved with Aavishkaar MicroVenture Fund which won the UN's World Business Award for 2006. He has been an Adjunct Fellow of the Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore and a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University. In 2009, he joined the Board of Governors of AFPRO, one of India's largest organizations working on food security and has also advised the UK government, United Nations Environment Programme, and other international agencies. He is a member of the Future City Committee of the Singapore government that is creating a long term vision for the city-state.^[18]

He writes frequent columns for Hindustan Times,^[19] Project Syndicate, The Times of India,^[20] Live Mint,^[21] Business Standard and several other publications.^[22][23]

Awards and recognition

Sanjeev Sanyal was named Young Global Leader for 2010 by the World Economic Forum in Davos, an honour given to select individuals below the age of 40 for outstanding contributions across disciplines including politics, academia, sports, business, and art. He is a Rhodes Scholar (1992–95) and was also awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship in 2007 for his work on urban systems.^[24] In 2008, CNBC profiled him as a "Young Turk" in recognition to his contributions to Asia's financial markets.^[25] The Singapore government honored him as a Young Leader 2014 at the World Cities Summit held in June 2014.^[26]

In July 2014, Sanyal won the first International Indian Achiever's Award for his contributions to Literature at the inaugural gala event in Mumbai.^[27] The award will given every year to Indians who have excelled in different fields on the international stage. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London and of IDFC Institute Mumbai.^[28]

Personal

Sanyal comes from a family that played an important role in India's Freedom Struggle against British colonial rule. His great grandfather Nalinaksha Sanyal was the Chief Whip of the Congress Party in the provincial assembly of undivided Bengal and a vocal opponent of colonial policies during the Bengal Famine of 1942. His granduncle was Sachindra Nath Sanyal who was one of founders of the revolutionary movement and a mentor to revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad.^[29]

Sanjeev Sanyal was born in Kolkata and studied at St.Xavier's School and St.James' School. He attended Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University and St John's College, Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar representing India (1992–1995).^[30] He is from the same class as Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, and Cory Booker, the Democratic Senator from New Jersey.^[31]

References

External links

• Green Indian States Trust website
• Book by Sanjeev Sanyal
• Business Standard Column by Sanjeev Sanyal
• Go Beyond Statistics article