“It is somewhat surprising that even the Government of India did not appreciate and acknowledge its reliance on the data published by the Reserve Bank,” he adds. “It is amazing that I.G. Patel, who relied on Reserve Bank data submitted to him by his staff, did not even mention how useful these data were in his memoirs on economic policy; and not even a word about the research done in the Reserve Bank and published in its Bulletins.”

In one of the chapters, the author observes that TTK (T.T. Krishnamachari, former Finance Minister) was responsible for two bright ideas: the setting up of the IDBI and the UTI. “At this time, he also suggested that it would be worthwhile to work on incomes policy…”

Engaging account of economic importance.

The cost function is the single most useful tool for studying the economic behaviour of a firm, says Hal R. Varian in Microeconomic Analysis, third edition ( www.vivagroupindia.com ). The cost function summarises all economically relevant information about the technology of the firm, he argues.