Biography

Does Arvind Panagariya smoke?: No.Does Arvind Panagariya drink alcohol?: No.His father, Balu Lal Panagariya, was born in poverty and had to fight at every step to educate himself.In an interview, Arvind Panagariya said, my father was an orphan at a young age..Arvinds father built the family house on the outskirts of the Jaipur city as he could not afford a house in the main city.His mother could not read/write, but education was given paramount importance in the Panagariya family.Arvind Panagariya was the youngest of the 3 sons and had to walk miles to attend a Hindi-medium school.His father wanted him to become an IAS officer.He has served as an economist at a number of renowned institutions of the world like ex-Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank, Professor of Economics at Columbia University, Professor of economics and co-director, Center for International Economics, the University of Maryland at College Park. He also worked for the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the World Trade Organization in various capacities.He has written a dozen books along-with economist, Jagdish Bhagwati. His book, India: The Emerging Giant, published in March 2008, has been described as one of the most informative books on the Indian Economy.