Meghnad Desai had a remarkable academic career and was long considered a key voice in Indian public policy issues.
Celebrated economist and influential UK House of Lords member, Lord Meghnad Jagdishchandra Desai, known for his dynamic and multifaceted legacy, passed away on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, at the age of 85.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his grief on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Heartfelt sorrow over the passing of the eminent intellectual, author, and economist Shri Meghnad Desai Ji.” to his departure. Throughout his life, he maintained a close relationship with India and its culture. He also made a big contribution to improving ties between India and the UK. I shall always treasure our discussions in which he imparted his priceless wisdom. I send my sympathies to his friends and family. Om Shanti.
Meghnad Desai, who was born in Vadodara in 1940, attended Mumbai University to obtain his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics. He then obtained a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania, where he finished his doctorate in economics three years after being admitted in 1963.
The book “Arguing About the World: The Work and Legacy of Meghnad Desai” by Montek Singh Ahluwalia is arguably the best account of Desai’s life and career, both personally and professionally. In her book, Ahluwalia writes, “I’ve known Meghnad in many forms over the years: a former Marxist economist, a mainstream academic at the London School of Economics, a Labour Party activist, a member of the House of Lords, an enthusiastic and surprisingly good cook, a keen observer of Indian politics, a regular columnist in one of India’s leading newspapers, a biographer of a classic Bollywood star, a budding novelist—and above all, a brilliant storyteller full of life.”
Economist Jagdish Bhagwati characterised Desai as being “at the forefront of Indian public policy debates for many years” in the book’s foreword. Beginning with his debut book “Marxian Economic Theory” (1973), Desai’s early writings were mostly centred on Marxist philosophy. He went on to publish *Applied Econometrics* in 1976 and later, in 1979, brought out Marxian Economics—a revised and enhanced version of his earlier work. He released a critique of monetarism, the theory that highlights how the money supply affects price levels and economic activity, in 1981.
Meghnad Desai was committed to teaching throughout his academic career, especially at the London School of Economics (LSE), where he had a significant influence on numerous student generations.
In his widely read book “Marx’s Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism” from 2002, he made the case that socialism might eventually make a comeback due to the continued trend of globalisation. As evidence for his theory, Desai cited the growing focus on social welfare in European nations and the expansion of voter welfare programs in India.
Throughout his career, Desai wrote or edited more than 20 books and contributed over 200 scholarly articles to academic journals.
One of his more controversial works was the book “Who Wrote the Bhagavad Gita?”, published in January 2014. According to publisher HarperCollins, Desai argued that certain themes in the Gita promote social inequality and apathy toward others, which he believed made parts of the scripture feel “toxic.”
In recognition of his contributions, Meghnad Desai was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, in 2008.