K. N. Raj

Kakkadan Nandanath Rajan 13 May 1924 – 10 February 2010 was an Indian economist. He is popularly asked as K. N. Raj. He played an important role in India's indicated development, drafting sections of India's number one Five Year Plan, specifically the introductory chapter when he was only 26 years old. He was a veteran economist in the Planning Commission. He worked out a schedule to raise India's rate of savings in the post-Second World War period when the country was in need of foreign aid. He computed India's Balance of Payments for the first time for the Reserve Bank of India. Raj was an advisor to several prime ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to P.V. Narasimha Rao. Dr. Raj was a Keynesian economist. He studied the applications of Keynesian monetary theory in Indian context.

Early life

Raj was born in Thrissur District. He did a B.A. from the prestigious Madras Christian College. He was a disciple of a well-distinguished economist Malcolm Adiseshiah at Madras Christian college. His teacher pressed for him to go for higher studies in London School of Economics. His thesis was on the monetary policy of India's central bank. Raj was a companion of distinguished economists like Manmohan Singh, Amartya Sen & Jagdish Bhagwati. Although he was a staunch leftist, he was a critical of Lenin's ideas of the State. He opposed the economic liberalisation in India.