The Collected Writings of an Indian Sage: Reviewing Alaknanda Patel (ed.), The Collected Works of A. K. Dasgupta, 3 Vols, 2009 (2011)

Abstract

Amiya Kumar Dasgupta (1903–92) was one of India’s outstanding economic theorists of the twentieth century, ‘undoubtedly the most distinguished economic theorist of his time in India’ is the late I. G. Patel’s assessment (Vol. III, 1). A.K., as he was usually known, was an extraordinary teacher; he wrote a great amount, amazingly so when we read of the huge amounts of time he gave to his students, to prolonged discussions with friends and colleagues (overlapping sets), as well as corresponding with economists and others all over the world. His collected writings have now been gathered together in the three volumes under review, expertly and lovingly edited by Dasgupta’s daughter, Alaknanda Patel, also an economist. She led a devoted team for the task, including her late husband, I. G. Patel, and her brother, Partha Dasgupta, both outstanding economists who knew the work of the older Dasgupta very well indeed.

Originally published in Economica, 2011