Lord Meghnad Desai launches the Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics
Report by India Education bureau, Mumbai:“Economics is evolving with a mission to solve a firm's real life problems at the heart. Armed with vast data sets... micro-economists can produce startlingly good forecasts of human behaviour. Tech giants like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, all hire economists.” - The Economist magazine, January 10, 2015.
Announcing a new academy which can cause a paradigm shift in the study of economics in the country - Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics. MDAE has been established by professor emeritus at the London School of Economics and Padma Bhushan awardee Lord Meghnad Desai. Launching in July this year, the Academy has been founded with a vision for students to - “Learn, think, apply and prepare students to take leadership positions in the global economy,” says Lord Desai.
A Vision of Academic Excellence
The Academy is designed to be an institution of excellence that will provide graduate students with the academic rigor and applied skills to meet the dynamic needs of a globalized workplace. Its approach of marrying theory with real-world practical education from the corporate sector will provide students of economics and finance with enhanced toolkits when they enter the workforce.
Creative & Contemporary Design
MDAE stands apart in both the design of its course and its instruction. Its autonomy in course design allows for a contemporary curriculum. Additionally, it uses active case-study based learning rather than passive learning. The curriculum also strongly focuses on developing key skills like communication, analytical and quantitative skills - eventually making its graduates more marketable and employable.
Dr. Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group aptly describes it as a - “Carefully-designed global curriculum that addresses the needs of a modern and fast-growing economy, with an emphasis on the practitioner’s perspective.”
Faculty From Across the Globe
Top-ranking faculty, trained in institutions such as MIT, LSE, Warwick among others showcase the Academy’s emphasis on academic excellence. MDAE bears the unique distinction of bringing together some of the most renowned economists from across the globe. Illustrious members of the corporate sector will also be involved in curriculum design, live projects, guest lectures, internships, and placements.
The close involvement and excitement of the corporate world in the program is reflected in the words of Dr. Tushar Poddar, Chief India Economist, MD Goldman Sachs – “I am very excited about this program, as I think it will fill an urgent need in India for high quality macroeconomists trained for financial markets.”
Next Generation Global Economists
The Post Graduate Program in Economics and Finance at MDAE is a carefully crafted course which will move students from traditional thinking to critical thinking - the MDAE way.
With workshops and seminars conducted by renowned economics and finance professionals, live projects supported by the corporate world and strong foundations built through rigorous theories in mathematics and econometrics, the course aims at creating successful, marketable and employable global leaders for the future!
Founding Members
Lord Meghnad Desai - Chairman MDAE, Professor Emeritus London School of Economics, Life Peer, British House of Lords.
Dr Indu Shahani - Vice Chairperson MDAE, Principal of HR College, PhD Mumbai University; previously visiting faculty member at NYU Stern & UC Berkeley.
Academic Board
Dr Ajit Ranade - Head Academic Board MDAE, Chief Economist Birla Group, PhD Brown University, Btech IIT and alumnus IIM Ahmedabad; previously Chief Economist at ABN Amro Bank, Assistant Professor IGIDR Mumbai & ICRIER New Delhi.
Dr Mangal Goswami - Deputy Director, IMF – Singapore Regional Training Institute, PhD Kansas State University; previously desk economist for various IMF member countries, economist at ABN AMRO Bank, Singapore.
Dr Tushar Poddar - Chief India Economist, MD Goldman Sachs, PhD London School of Economics; previously economist at IMF, Washington DC.
Niranjan Rajadhyaksha - Executive Editor, Mint, MA Mumbai University, author ‘Rise of India: Its transformation from poverty to prosperity’; previously Deputy Director, Business World.
Advisory Board
PD Singh - MD, J.P. Morgan India, Corporate banking; previously Head, Corporate banking HSBC.
Basant Shroff - Partner at EY, Leadership team, financial services.
Faculty
Indradeep Ghosh - PhD MIT; previously Assistant Professor Haverford college.
Neeraj Hatekar - Director & Professor Econometrics, Mumbai University, PhD Mumbai University.
Abhinay Muthoo - Head of Department of Economics, University of Warwick, Co-Director of Warwick Policy Lab (WPL), University of Warwick, PhD Cambridge.
Rakesh Singh - Professor Economics, Great Lakes Institute of Management, PhD Mumbai University.
