Lahore, 3 Aug.: At an event held at a local hotel, Oxford University Press launched the renowned economist, Lord Meghnad Desai’s recently published book Hubris: Why Economists Failed to Predict the Crisis and How to Avoid the Next One. The book explores the reasons for the failure of economists to anticipate the global financial crisis and mitigate the impact of the ensuing recession. The author investigates the evolution of economics and maps its trajectory against the occurrence of major political events to provide a definitive answer. Desai underscores the contribution of hubris to economists’ calamitous lack of foresight, and he makes a persuasive case for the profession to re-engage with the history of economic thought.
The evening featured a stimulating discussion between the journalist, editor, and media personality, Najam Sethi, and Lord Desai. During the conversation, the author dismissed the notion that one over-arching paradigm can resolve all economic eventualities while urging that an array of already-available theories and approaches be considered anew for the insights they may provide toward preventing future economic catastrophes.
Meghnad Desai is Emeritus Professor of Economics, London School of Economics, where he was also founder and former director of the Global Governance Research Centre. He is a member of the House of Lords and chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum.
The launch was followed by talks on the books Pakeezah: An Ode to a Bygone Worldalso written by Lord Meghnad Desai and Darlingji: The True Love Story of Nargis and Sunil Duttwritten by Lady Kishwar Desai who is an author and columnist.
In Pakeezah, which is an entertaining look at one of the landmarks of Hindi cinema, Meghnad Desai tracks the film’s tortuous journey and reveals fascinating, little-known aspects of it. In his talk, Lord Desai spoke about the craftsmanship, perseverance and perfectionism of the film’s maker, Kamal Amrohi. Desai said he views the film as a ‘Muslim social’ set in a ‘Lucknow of the Muslim imagination’; as a woman-centric film with a dancing heroine at a time when they were a rarity; and above all, as a film that harks back to an era of ‘nawabi culture with its exquisite tehzeeb’, a world that is lost forever. The book is a fitting tribute to a film that Meghnad Desai calls ‘a monument to the golden age of Hindustani films’.
During her talk on Darlingji, which is a biography of the iconic Indian film actors Nargis and Sunil Dutt, Kishwar Desai said that apart from narrating one of the legendary love stories of India's film world, the book tells the larger story of the history and evolution of Hindi cinema and of a society and a nation in the throes of change.
Kishwar Desai is an Indian author and columnist. Her first novel, Witness the Night won the Costa Book Award in 2010 for Best First Novel and has been translated into over 25 languages. She had previously worked in television as anchor/producer. Kishwar’s columns and articles have been published in several international newspapers.
Earlier in her welcome address, Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan, introduced the authors and said, “Today, we are in the presence of personalities of extraordinary versatility, unique in the diverse ways in which they have excelled, and have enriched society and lives in a variety of different fields.”.
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