Ambedkar: Beyond Social Reformer - Unveiling His Economic Acumen

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, commonly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, built his renown as a legal expert and a champion of social change. He is known as the father of the Indian constitution. Less widely recognized is Ambedkar's proficiency in economics. He earned doctoral degrees in economics from Columbia University in the United States and the London School of Economics. Additionally, he briefly served as a Professor of Political Economy at Mumbai's Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics.
As an economist, Ambedkar wasn't tied to any specific ideology. He was open to employing diverse ideas as needed to promote economic progress and uplift the impoverished, adapting to the requirements of each situation.

Some of Ambedkar's important economic ideas:

Agriculture

Ambedkar's insights on India's agricultural challenges remain pertinent today. He advocated for consolidating small land holdings into larger units, either managed by the state or farmer cooperatives, to boost productivity and achieve economies of scale. Additionally, he proposed reallocating underutilized agricultural labor to the industrial sector.

Monetary policy

Ambedkar's thesis at the London School of Economics was 'The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Solution', where he opposed John Maynard Keynes' advocacy for a gold-exchange standard, preferring a gold standard to stabilize currency rates and prices by minting gold coins.