Michael Debabrata Patra: New frontiers in economic research

Keynote address by Dr Michael Debabrata Patra, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, at the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Research Conference, Male, 14 December 2024.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Governor Mr Ahmed Munawar, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), Dr Mahamood Shougee, Chancellor of the Maldives National University, Mr Ahmed Imad, Deputy Governor, MMA, other senior colleagues of the MMA, distinguished presenters and panelists and participants, ladies and gentlemen, good morning to all of you.

It is an honour for me to be invited to give the keynote address at this two-day Annual Research Conference of the MMA that is aptly themed: Advancing Economic Research: Policy and Innovation for a Sustainable Future. The impressive line-up of papers to be presented in the conference will shine light on to this topical theme. In my address today, I wish to focus on some new frontiers in economic research and their relevance for policy making globally, but with a focus on the Global South.

Economic inquiry is characterised as the spirit of exploration in a continual quest to understand the invisible hand that transforms livelihoods, shapes societies, and defines humanity's aspirations. In that sense, economists have always been cartographers of unyielding trade-offs and impossible trinities in their profession of studying mankind in the ordinary business of life, as Alfred Marshall famously defined economics. The lives of economists are complicated by the fact that underneath their feet, the ground is always shifting and reshaping economic constructs, information stocks and flows, and available tools. Today, we stand on the cusp of an era being redefined as much by the boundless possibilities of technology and innovation as the risks of climate change and deglobalisation. For the economics profession, therefore, as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus remarked, "Change is the only constant."

Our research has to adapt not only to today's tectonic shifts but also to new frontiers to be traversed tomorrow. Against this backdrop and in the interest of time, I will focus on four emerging areas of research that, I believe, will redefine human behaviour and hence economic research.