Poverty has been the dominant theme in my writings: economist C.T. Kurien

The distinguished professor has been a lifelong champion of using economic theories as tools to impact real-life situations

C.T. Kurien is an economist with a difference. If Nobel laureate Robert Solow said that economics is for the curious and its study should be intellectual fun, for Kurien, the economist’s role is to participate in transforming the economy. The retired professor, who turned 90 recently, has always approached economics from the viewpoint of fighting poverty. In his last book, Wealth and Illfare (2012), he questions the value of an economic system based on the pure pursuit of profit. Excerpts from an interview: I am sure you will appreciate the fact that 90 years is a watershed. As a teacher, as a researcher, as director of the Madras Institute of Development Studies, I have done my best.