Also read a more detailed subsequent post on this issue - how can a US citizen Raghuram Rajan be appointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India? http://seemasapra.blogspot.in/2013/11/why-raghuram-rajan-should-not-have-been.html?showComment=1410510265588#c5199707438704137035
naturalized US citizens have to swear allegiance to the United States
see http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=35098
and http://www.niticentral.com/2013/08/09/what-will-raghuram-rajan-do-116164.html
How could he even have been appointed as Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India?
This disclosure by Raghuram Rajan on his Chicago Booth Faculty page http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/raghuram.rajan/disclosure.pdf shows that he was engaged in private employment even while he was serving as Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India in 2012.
BDT Capital Partners, is a highly secretive merchant bank that provides advice and capital to family-owned companies. Raghuram Rajan has admitted that he earned income from BDT Capital in 2012 even while he was Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India and was therefore in Indian Government employment.
naturalized US citizens have to swear allegiance to the United States
see http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=35098
and http://www.niticentral.com/2013/08/09/what-will-raghuram-rajan-do-116164.html
How could he even have been appointed as Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India?
This disclosure by Raghuram Rajan on his Chicago Booth Faculty page http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/raghuram.rajan/disclosure.pdf shows that he was engaged in private employment even while he was serving as Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India in 2012.
BDT Capital Partners, is a highly secretive merchant bank that provides advice and capital to family-owned companies. Raghuram Rajan has admitted that he earned income from BDT Capital in 2012 even while he was Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India and was therefore in Indian Government employment.
Seema, before questioning the credentials of Dr. Rajan, you should do some homework on how he fared in academics and how he "won" all those accolades. Suggesting that his father's RAW/CIA connection resulted in his excellence, is humiliating and demeaning to all those brilliant Engg/MBAs in India, who persevere against all odds to achieve the highest levels of excellence in India's hallowed Educational Institutions.
ReplyDeletewhat better qualification you have in mind
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why India has been struggling to stand up for so long. Even when everything goes smoothly and eminent people come forward, we tend to find reasons to pull people down like crabs in a jar.
ReplyDeleteHe was Chief Economist at the IMF. Professor at the University of Chicago. He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Economics.
And then he returns to India ,despite several offers from around the world, to work as head of the RBI for a 1 rupee salary.
We should be thanking God that we have such a proficient banker and financial analyst leading the RBI.
We have a man who had the guts to present his prediction of the 2008 crisis at the 2005 Greenspan event amongst the elite economists of the world, where his entire reputation was fully at stake.
And after all this, you are concerned about his citizenship and Green Card?
You must be joking.
If this article is questioning his service and dedication to India and its growth, the I am simply dazed. Rather dumbfounded. Absolutely unbelievable.
You know what?, I'm just going to laugh this off.
Of course I am and many others remain concerned about Raghuram Rajan's citizenship. his loyalties, his domicile, his green card etc, ... Who pulls his strings, whose writ does he follow, whose agenda does he fulfill, ....to not do so would be stupid.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the harsh world of real politic, where there is no place for blind faith and naiveté, like yours Adithya Sudan.
@vatty, you are spot on. I have not seen any US favoring policy from Rajan. In fact he is very loyal to Chicago School of thought which is akin to Gandhian economics (in a loose sense of broad impact over growth). He could have lowered interest along US policy and spurred growth recklessly and in 2-3 years exit and get back to US. He is holding the guns toward the government pressure. He might not be the best, but tell who is the alternative let us discuss then. This blog is good , no doubt the question is if it is relevant. Mother Teresa who served India was not an Indian perse. She had honorary citizenship from countries which our constitution does not recognize, does it make her less of an Indian? Also the author's intent is now questionable when she says how Rajan got MIT scholarship. Someone with a caliber to get in to IIT then IIM can't get an US scholarship? Huh? BTW I came from a very small college in TN and I got full scholarships in the US (I am still Indian by choice, with Indian passport). This logical fallacy could have been avoided. The core issue is why Rajan thinks Green Card is a work Visa. This is wrong thinking. He needs to clarify that statement in front of USCIS as well as Indian Government. But independent of this he can continue serving India with his sound policies...
ReplyDeleteIt has been more than a year now.. I hope you can say that Raghuram Rajan has done little to destabilize the Indian Economy :) ...
ReplyDeleteThere is an interesting discussion on this post at https://www.reddit.com/r/indianews/comments/26vmt6/
ReplyDeleteHave stumbled upon your page after a long time Ms Sapra! How is the "Raghuram Rajan is not Indian" working out as the theme of your page? Any updates. The media and even you seem to have quietened down a bit given the governor's ability to handle pressure from fickle politicians and special interests. I am sure some will still bring it up come September. May be we can go to an Indian economist who can reduce interest rates to 2% as the next governor of RBI and assure ourselves that "he is the best because he is an Indian afterall, so he has our best interest at heart". Other than, *maybe* the top job in the government, and I say that with a big *maybe*, we should probably open up all technical jobs to citizens across the world and focus on good governance - irrespective of citizenship. But we are not ready for that yet. May be once we have a separation of several centuries from the all too fresh memories of the British Raj.
ReplyDeleteSo are you confirming that Raghuram Rajan might not have Indian nationality?
ReplyDeleteAlso you think that we can hand over Government to world citizens and they will bestow good governance. Do you think we could simply apply, say to the United States, to become their colony, the governance will certainly be better than it is now?
Really you expose your complete lack of understanding of politics, governance, interest groups and how societies are constructed.
Laughable comment by Raghuram Rajan supporter on 13 May 2016.
Hi Seema,
ReplyDeleteInsightful article backed by solid research . Must appreciate effort put in to investigate person who is so critical for country .
It seems that same disclosure at http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/raghuram.rajan/disclosure.pdf has been updated and contents you quoted are removed OR you have added the additional information regarding BDT capital partner yourself . I am kind of confused .
Regards
Manhunt's Destiny - As you point out the disclosure has been updated and its contents edited.
ReplyDeleteThe disclosure was as I reported in my blog on the date this post was published in 2013. I don't think I took a screen-shot.
But as you can see, the disclosure I reproduced here is so detailed that no one can doubt its genuineness including the part about BDT Capital. Am sure enough evidence is obtainable for all of it, if someone tries to find it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHere are some other links confirming that Raghuram Rajan held paid positions with BDT Capital and others even when he was Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India
ReplyDeletehttps://www.chicagobooth.edu/gls/speakers/?speaker=rajan
and
https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2011/11/17/raghuram-rajan-receives-prestigious-infosys-prize
So 3 yrs after stalling on Raghuram Rajan's citizenship RTI query, RBI says it has no knowledge about his previous citizenship. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rbi-governor-is-an-indian-passport-holder-indian-national/article8704123.ece
ReplyDeleteAll said is ok.Why Raghuram rajan had delayed the information required by ED.to suit his political boss U P A and the offenders in that matter ,a reminder sent by Sri.Subramanian swamy.Does he not believed that the nation is keen & watching and thereby anti patriotic and he helps somebody guided in west world.Lack of attempt in replying fast,He said to support the corruption.He proved he unpatriotic to his nation which he claim to have affinity.
ReplyDeleteJust came across your blog and the comments on your writings re Raghuram Rajan. A comprehensive collection of data indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you
I just came across your blog and would like to commend you on the collection of relevant data.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
So Raghuram Rajan has helped prop up the US economy and the dollar, by making the RBI invest heavily in US treasury bonds and bills. Almost a third of India's foreign exchange reserves (at USD 117 billion) are now in US Government bonds, thanks to Rajan. See http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/bonds/rbis-ownership-of-us-treasury-bonds-and-bills-rise-40-to-117-billion-at-december-end/articleshow/51099158.cms
ReplyDeleteMs Sapra, isn't every bank in the world buying US Treasury Bonds these days (as captured by the low yields on them which further go down every time a crisis strikes). Is Rajan's behavior different? If no one else is doing so but Rajan is, then it is news otherwise .... Propping up US economy and the dollar is a tall claim and no central bank can probably do that. To me it seems a bit harsh and undeserved criticism. The news report you cite also says China does the same so will you claim China is doing the same? That is the common theme in much on this page....because some reporter writes this, it must be true; because he had paid positions, he must be an agent; Lacks a bit of objectivity I think. But you and your readers are entitled to your opinion. Clearly there are others (including Mr. Swamy) who think the same. I guess given that he is now leaving/govt did not renew his contract - either way the outcome is the same - your voices have been heard....late but heard nevertheless. Will you objectively list all the bad things that he did being a "foreigner" and those that hurt Indian interests. I ask because you care about the cause. I respect your passion on the topic so think you will do a good job if you can be objective. If there is a long list of things that he did that hurt Indians, no "foreigners" should be allowed in future and if not, then may be we can loosen up a bit. As an independent observer, I will be okay with either answer - just as long as it is based on facts and not emotions and hearsay....and false connections. I look forward to your objective list.
ReplyDeleteThis comment above posted anonymously is a great example of disinformation. The article I linked to http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/bonds/rbis-ownership-of-us-treasury-bonds-and-bills-rise-40-to-117-billion-at-december-end/articleshow/51099158.cms clearly states that while RBI purchase of US treasury bonds rose 40% in 2015, China's investments in such US treasury bonds at the same time remained flat, Russia's rose by 7%, and South Africa's declined. So RBI under Raghuram Rajan did what others did not do. And of course this helped the US dollar and the US economy. Yet the comment suggests falsely that the RBI only did what everyone else was doing.
ReplyDeleteFrom this misrepresentation that India only did what everyone else did, the anonymous commentator then extrapolates without any evidence or argument that the blog post and comments critiquing Rajan are unsubstantiated or lack objectivity. The rest of his comment is manipulative drivel.
This "independent observer" also wants foreigners holding key administrative and regulatory positions in the Indian Government. Wonder why? As I said before, why not just become a colony of the US, we can have our fill of foreigners and the governance will surely be better.
This is the classic mistake of percentages and base numbers. If I go from 50 to 100, I have gone up by 100% and if I go from 1000 to 1100, I have gone up only 10%. According to the report you point out, India has 117 billion and China has more than a trillion in US treasuries. Anyway, I don't think you took my post with the intent it was posted (of taking the main reason for the existence of this blog page to its logical conclusion - assessing whether appointment of someone with seemingly foreign citizenship was harmful or helpful objectively). Raghuram Rajan is going to go away but the question is going to remain. If you can contribute to that question, then you would have added to the cause of existence of this page - otherwise this effort of yours loses its meaning.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be pretty reasonable and balanced view.
ReplyDeleteRagjuram Rajan is a long-time puppet of Rothschild+Rockefeller Cabal-masters & PrimeMinister Modi must immediately kick him out of RBI as requested by Subramanian Swamy's request. Ragjuram Rajan was hand-in-glove with creators of 2007-2008-2009 global financial/economic crisis cum subprime mortgage banking emergency. Main reason to put him incharge of RBI was to recreate similar banking emergency in India - he ought to maneuver same crisis into India & thus is why he was appointed by BIS(Basel) as Vice-Chairman (while he remained RBI governor). Rajan is neither indian at heart, nor in deeds. He is a stooge (fulltime conmen) alike Amartya Sen of the Cabal and Anonymous(hacktivists), Wikileaks, Edward Snowden etc exposing these moles who make worldwide chaos across the planet for their Elite banksters viz. Rothschild+Rockefeller cabal.
ReplyDeleteFresh fodder for you Ms Sapra! The newly appointed RBI governor, Dr. Urjit Patel, is Kenya born. Links in his Wikipedia page say that he applied for (and got) an Indian passport in this decade. What is up with the Indian administrators? They cannot seem to find "thorough" Indians for heading the RBI.
ReplyDeleteUrjit Patel might also have had UK citizenship, given his Kenyan birth.
ReplyDeleteHe was unlawfully given an Indian passport by Manmohan Singh when he was made Deputy Governor of the FBI. This most likely broke some laws.
Modi or Manmohan Singh - its clear where the orders to the PMO are coming from.