Those routing for family first would endorse Arvind Subramanian, the former chief economic adviser’s revelation in his forthcoming book, that he quit his post as he wanted to spend time with his grandchild in the US. But one wonders what Union finance minister Arun Jaitley would think of this since he, in another context (RBI governor vs the government), said that the institution is bigger than any individual. Four months after he quit his post, Mr Subramanian has now literally kicked up a storm by dubbing demonetisation in November 2016 as a massive draconian monetary shock that saw the economy slide to 6.8 per cent in the seven quarters after the eight per cent it recorded prior to the note ban. It may be recalled that he was not consulted before the demonetisation announcement was made, but kept mum at the time.
Mr Subramanian has got economists in a tailspin as some have gone to the extent of speculating what icons like Karl Marx and Adam Smith would have done in such a situation, namely putting grand-parenting before tackling economy issues which was his job. He must feel flattered to be compared with these renowned historical figures. The swadeshi-centric critics with their tongue firmly in their cheeks say had his son and daughter-in-law been in India, he would not have had to quit his post. But seriously why does an economist have to quit? Maybe time has come to think of giving leave to grandfathers-to-be on the lines of paternity leave for a father-to-be.
