Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar is a research fellow at the Cato Institute with a special focus on India and Asia. His research interests include economic change in developing countries, human rights and civil strife, political economy, energy, trade and industry. He is a prolific columnist and TV commentator in India, well-known for a popular weekly column titled "Swaminomics" in the Times of India. He is the author of Escape From The Benevolent Zookeepers - The Best Of Swaminomics (New Delhi: Times of India, 2008) and has been called "India's leading economic journalist" by Stephen Cohen of the Brookings Institution. He has been the editor of India's two biggest financial dailies, The Economic Times and Financial Express, and was also the India correspondent of The Economist for two decades. He has frequently been a consultant to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Swami spends part of the year in India and part in the USA. He holds a Master's degree in economics from Oxford University, UK.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
"Andhra Pradesh: Fastest Improver in Economic Freedom," in Economic Freedom in the States of India (2011).
"A Titan Passes Away," in Peter Bauer and the Economics of Prosperity, James Dorn and Barun Mitra, editors (Cato Institute and Liberty Institute, 2009).
"Introduction," Escape from the Benevolent Zookeepers (2008)
"The Elephant That Became a Tiger: 20 Years of Economic Reform in India," Development Policy Analysis no. 13, July 20, 2011.
"Socialism Kills: The Human Cost of Delayed Economic Reform in India," Development Briefing Paper no. 4, October 21, 2009.
"An International Monetary Fund Currency to Rival the Dollar? Why Special Drawing Rights Can't Play That Role," Development Policy Analysis no. 10, July 7, 2009.
"The Benefits of Port Liberalization: A Case Study from India," Development Policy Analysis no. 7, December 3, 2008.
"Crisis Prevention through Global Surveillance: A Task beyond the IMF," The Cato Journal, Vol. 30, No. 3, Fall 2010.
Small States: Not Handicapped and Under-Aided, but Advantaged and Over-Aided, The Cato Journal , Vol. 28 No. 3 Fall 2008
"Let's Prize Climate Skepticism," Philadelphia Inquirer, October 25, 2011
"Indian Bureaucrats Are No Steve Jobs," The Wall Street Journal Asia, October 18, 2011
"Indian Untouchables Become Millionaires," Huffington Post, September 1, 2011
"Arrest Corruption, Not Those Who Protest against It," Times of India, August 21, 2011
"Attack on Artistic Freedom Is Our Shame," Times of India, June 12, 2011
"India Twenty Years after Reform," June 1, 2011 [Policy Forum]
"The Service Revolution in South Asia," September 8, 2010 [Book Forum]
"The 27th Annual Monetary Conference: Restoring Global Financial Stability," November 19, 2009 [Conference]
"India: The Emerging Giant," July 2, 2008 [Book Forum]
"India Unbound: A Personal Account of a Social and Economic Revolution from Independence to the Global Information Age," April 22, 2002 [Book Forum]
Skepticism and Climate Science (October 20, 2011) [Daily Podcast, 05:08]
Swaminathan Aiyar gives a quick history of economic reform in India. (June 8, 2011) [Cato Video, 05:47]
A History of Indian Economic Reforms (June 3, 2011) [Daily Podcast, 05:30]
India Twenty Years after Reform with Ian Vásquez, Arvind Panagariya and Surjit Bhalla (June 1, 2011) [Events, 01:30:26]
The Service Revolution in South Asia with Ian Vásquez (September 8, 2010) [Events, 01:21:09]