VENUE: Department of Management, Seminar Hall, 9^th floor, MAIT.

Date: 5^th March, 18 to 16^th March,18

Workshop: Kautilyan Economics for Bringing Shared Prosperity

A Workshop on “Kautilyan Economics for Bringing Shared Prosperity” was organized in the Department of Management, MAIT, in collaboration with Kautilya International Foundation, Delhi, from 5^th March, 18 to 16^th March, 18. The Key speaker, Professor Balbir Singh Sihag, highlighted the monumental contribution of Kautilya in modern economic thought.

Prof Sihag received Ph.D. in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), USA. He has been Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts for twenty- two years. At present he is Professor Emeritus of Economics at M.I.T. He has authored many books and research papers. In his book “Kautilya: The True Founder of Economics”, he makes a strong argument that Kautilya, a well-known Indian philosopher and thinker during the fourth century, should be considered as the founder of Economics. He made us aware about the concepts and thoughts contributed by Kautilya, such as division of labour, principal of taxation, efficient wages, demand-supply, producer surplus, opportunity cost etc. He emphasised that it was Kautilya who introduced all these concepts before anyone else. He carved out economics as a separate discipline. Prof. Sihag emphasized that the Hindu civilization has never been averse to economic growth. However, Indian thinkers have always emphasized the need for sustainable economic growth. It was really a wonderful experience for all of us to listen to Prof. Sihag. The thoughts and knowledge shared by him inspired the participants to learn more and more about Kautilya’s economics and his contribution to bringing shared prosperity in the society.