India, Oct. 17 -- Economics, you know, can be boring. But sometimes it is hilarious. Twice in recent times in India, economics and renowned economists have generated humorous situations. For instance, a few years ago, the former head of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Raghuram Rajan, sat with the Leader of Opposition, and loftily pronounced that India would be lucky if the GDP growth rate touches five per cent. In 2016, the year Rajan quit as the governor, the growth rate was over eight per cent. As he hinted, it dropped thereafter.

However, except for 2019, when the growth dipped below four per cent, and 2020, when it plummeted into the negative zone due to the pandemic, the rate remained over six per cent. It was higher-than-expected ...