->Arekayyer at 00:51, 6 November 2021

2021-11-06T00:51:07Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian economist (1905–1978)}}
{{Refimprove|date=August 2008}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}
{{Infobox economist

| school_tradition = liberalism
| name = Professor Bellikoth Shenoy
| image = 
| nationality = [[India]]n
| birth_date = {{birth date|1905|6|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1978|2|8|1905|6|3|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| institution = [[Gujarat University]]
}}
'''Bellikoth Ragunath Shenoy''' (1905–1978) was an Indian [[classical liberal]] [[economist]]. He was a highly influential advocate of [[classical liberalism]] in India and was President of the Indian Economic Association and a member of the [[Mont Pelerin Society]].

Shenoy was born near [[Mangalore]], [[Karnataka]] in [[India]]. His forefathers were from Bellikoth village, near present day Ajanur in Kasargod district. He studied economics at [[Benares Hindu University]] and later at the [[London School of Economics]] where he was highly influenced by [[Friedrich Hayek]]. In particular, he heard Hayek deliver the lectures in January 1931 that became "Prices and Production," and that began the process of his adherence to the Austrian approach to economic theory and policy. In 1931 Shenoy became the first Indian economist to have a paper published in a leading scholarly journal. As a student, Shenoy participated in the [[Indian independence movement]] and was jailed at [[Nagpur]] where he was influenced by [[Madan Mohan Malaviya]]

Shenoy taught at Wadia College (Pune), the [[University of Ceylon]], [[Gujarat University]] and the [[London School of Economics]]. He also worked at the Ceylon Commission on Currency, the Ceylon Department of Commerce, the [[Reserve Bank of India]], the [[International Monetary Fund]] and the [[World Bank]]. After leaving academia, Shenoy founded the Economic Research Centre in Delhi which advocated the ideas of [[classical liberalism]].

Dr. Shenoy's work on the "Sterling balances of Reserve Bank of India", written in 1946 was the first effort by any economist to accurately calculate the World War II expenses and actual value of foreign exchange reserve with Reserve Bank of India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/archive/the-unheeded-lesson-from-br-shenoy/1278218/|title = The unheeded lesson from BR Shenoy|date = 11 August 2014}}</ref> He claimed 1724 Crore rupees with the Reserve Bank included foreign assets of commercial banks also. Shenoy suggested devaluation of Rupee for it to attain proper parity with Pound Sterling.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=We9VbYEklsYC&q=br+shenoy&pg=PA174 |title = V.K.R.V. Rao and B.R. Shenoy: Economic Ideas in Contrast|isbn = 9788176293327|last1 = Prasad|first1 = Kamta|year = 2001}}</ref>

In 1955, Shenoy was appointed to the Panel of Economists who were to appraise [[Nehru]]'s ambitious Second Five-Year Plan, the one that aimed at "heavy industrialisation".<ref name=policy /> He was the only one to submit a "Note of Dissent."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mises.org/library/indias-great-free-market-economist|title=India's Great Free-Market Economist|date=23 June 2011}}</ref>

Shenoy was of the opinion that India could not finance all the money needed for rapid industrialisation<ref>https://spontaneousorder.in/b-r-shenoy-minimum-state-the-ideal-of-india-1957-bd7784ca6e9e{{Dead link|date=June 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and may not be able to consume all the goods thus produced.<ref name=policy>[http://indiapolicy.org/debate/Notes/shenoy.PDF Note of Dissent on the Memorandum of the Panel of Economists]</ref>

Dr. Shenoy opined that governmental interventions in markets of all sort,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://indianliberals.in/uploads/periodicals/PDF_19_pg0rqp19571201.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=22 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518071153/http://indianliberals.in/uploads/periodicals/PDF_19_pg0rqp19571201.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> though termed seasonal would end up forcing repeated interventions and would lead to distortions in production, price and storage of commodities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://forbesindia.com/article/hindsight/b.r.-shenoys-forgotten-voice-of-dissent/26922/1|title = B.R. Shenoy's Forgotten Voice of Dissent | Forbes India}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mises.org/library/appreciation-br-shenoy-economist|title = An Appreciation of B.R. Shenoy, Economist|date = 30 July 2014}}</ref><ref name=coloquim>http://ccs.in/colloquium/december-2014</ref>

Dr. Shenoy was also critical of Nehru government's penchant for import-substitution,<ref name=coloquim /> awarding licenses for industrial-production and central planning. Authority to award licenses would lead to corruption was his analysis.<ref name=policy />

His daughter was Dr. Sudha Shenoy, Ph.D. who too was a trained economist in the mould of classical liberalism.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sudha R. Shenoy|url=https://indianliberals.in/content/sudha-r-shenoy/|access-date=2021-11-06|website=Indian Liberals|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{More footnotes|date=April 2009}}
{{Reflist}}

* [http://www.cobdencentre.org/2011/11/20-years-since-indias-economic-reforms/ 20 years since India’s economic reforms]
* {{Cite web|url=http://www.ccsindia.org/ccsindia/people_brs_shenoy.htm|title=''Biographical note on Prof B.R. Shenoy'', Centre for Civil Society|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021180101/http://www.ccsindia.org/ccsindia/people_brs_shenoy.htm|archivedate=21 October 2007|df=dmy-all}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shenoy, Bellikoth}}
[[Category:20th-century Indian economists]]
[[Category:Scholars from Mangalore]]
[[Category:Mangaloreans]]
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Gujarat University faculty]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]

Bellikoth Raghunath Shenoy - Revision history

->Arekayyer at 00:51, 6 November 2021