This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page. This article has been tagged since March 2008.

Raveendra N. Batra (b. 27 June 1943) is a U.S. economist and professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He is best known for his best selling books The Great Depression of 1990 and Surviving the Great Depression of 1990. In the former book he predicted a sharp rise in the US stock market in the 1980s, followed by a cataclysmic drop and a depression in or around 1990. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... Dallas Hall at Dedman College at SMU The Laura Lee Blanton Hall during a rare snow storm Southern Methodist University (commonly SMU) is a nationally recognized, private, coeducational university in University Park, Texas (an enclave of Dallas). ... Dallas redirects here. ... For other uses, see Texas (disambiguation). ...

Biography

Raveendra N. Batra was born near the ancient city of Multan in Pakistan on 27 June 1943. The family moved to Delhi in India shortly after the partition, where his father became a Professor of Sanskrit. Multan shown on a 1669 world map   (Urdu: ملتان) is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. ... is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... , For other uses, see Delhi (disambiguation). ... This article is under construction. ... Sanskrit ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ...

Academic career

Batra obtained his B.A. degree from Punjab University in 1963 and M.A. degree from Delhi School of Economics in 1965. In 1969 he received his Ph.D. in Economics from Southern Illinois University. He surprised his professors by becoming published in distinguished refereed journals while a student. He became Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Western Ontario in 1969. He moved to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas in 1970 to become Assistant Professor of Economics. In 1972, he became Associate Professor and in 1973 he was appointed full Professor of Economics and Head of Department at the age of 30. Until 1978, his career was on a fast track, while he published advanced theoretical articles and two books primarily in the field of trade theory. Punjab University can refer to one of the following: In Pakistan: University of the Punjab, Lahore In India: Panjab University, Chandigarh This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Delhi School of Economics, started in 1949, is a conglomerate of three departments, affiliated to the University of Delhi. ... Southern Illinois University is a university in southern Illinois with two institutions and multiple campuses. ... A professor is a senior teacher and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... The University of Western Ontario (known as Western, as well as UWO or Western Ontario) is a research university located in London, Ontario. ... Dallas Hall at Dedman College at SMU The Laura Lee Blanton Hall during a rare snow storm Southern Methodist University (commonly SMU) is a nationally recognized, private, coeducational university in University Park, Texas (an enclave of Dallas). ... For other uses, see Dallas (disambiguation). ... A professor is a senior teacher and researcher, usually in a college or university. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: [1]) varies. ... A Chairman is the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or other deliberative body. ...

Novel ideas

In 1963, Batra met his revered teacher, P.R. Sarkar (1921–1990), also known as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti to disciples of the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (Path of Bliss). After establishing himself in his chosen field, he decided to branch out by contributing to his mentor's work. In 1978, he published a novel book The Downfall of Communism and Capitalism: A New Study of History, where he turned his gaze from theoretical economics to history. In the book Batra promoted the Social cycle theory of his spiritual mentor, Sarkar, based on an analysis of four distinct classes with different psychological preferences or endowments. Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar was born in Bihar, India on a full moon day in May of 1921 to a family belonging to the intellectual caste of Brahmins. ... ... Ananda Marga, officially known as Ananda Marga Pracharaka Samgha (AMPS) meaning the organization for the propagation of the path of bliss is a spiritual movement, founded in Jamalpur, Bihar, India in 1955 by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (1921-1990), known by his spiritual name of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ...

Social evolution

The main thesis of the book was that the Age of capitalism, better known as capitalism, was soon to come to an end in the West. This dramatic change was to be followed by the downfall of the soldier in the Soviet Union, more commonly known as communism in favor of an Age of Intellectuals in which priests and academics dominate. While his predictions for capitalism to collapse within a few decades due to rampant inequality and speculation have not come true, his prediction for the collapse of communism, due to inner stasis and oppression, arrived in 1990, sooner than expected. The key reason that capitalism, as a self-perpetuating social formation, was seen to be on an unsustainable path, was the relentless drive of Acquisitors to acquire ever more capital. Over time, this activity was seen to gain momentum and result in financial booms and busts. A depression would then follow and as it came on top of extreme inequality it would quickly bring social chaos and revolt. As anarchy was not a normal state of affairs, the class of military leaders would step in the breech and reestablish order and thereby usher in a new age of "commanders". In this context, Batra reviews a prior such social change, which occurred two millennia ago, when the Roman Republic was transformed into the Roman Empire. At that time slave uprisings were common but were violently suppressed. This period became known as the Servile Wars. At the same time, the military was in ascendancy as the Roman Army continued to expand the empire. The pivotal figure in the development was the military leader, Julius Caesar, who wrested control from the Senate by diluting its membership, but was in turn murdered by the disgruntled Senators. The military class, led by his adopted son Octavian, cemented the new social order. Batra thinks such a scenario in the future will refocus the social motivity, away from acquisition of money to a mastery of technology and physical bravery including the conquest of space, heralding a new age of commanders in the West. These ideas contrast starkly with those of thinkers like Francis Fukuyama who argues that capitalism, as it is based on democracy and freedom, represents the pinnacle of human social development. For Fukuyama, the collapse of Soviet Communism could have been inevitable, but not that of Capitalism. This article is about the form of society and political movement. ... A stock market bubble is a type of economic bubble taking place in stock markets when price of stocks rise and become overvalued by any measure of stock valuation. ... A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Chaos (disambiguation). ... This article is about revolution in the sense of a drastic change. ... Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. ... This article is about the state which existed from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC. For the state which existed in the 18th century, see Roman Republic (18th century). ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... The Servile Wars were a series of slave revolts that plagued the late Roman Republic. ... The Roman army was a set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and later Roman Empire as part of the Roman military. ... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... The Roman Senate (Latin: Senatus) was the main governing council of both the Roman Republic, which started in 509 BC, and the Roman Empire. ... For other persons named Octavian, see Octavian (disambiguation). ... Layers of Atmosphere - not to scale (NOAA)[1] Outer space, sometimes simply called space, refers to the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies. ... Occident redirects here. ... The End of History and the Last Man is a 1992 book by Francis Fukuyama, expanding on his 1989 essay The End of History?, published in the international affairs journal The National Interest. ... For other uses, see Freedom. ...

Spiritual heritage

Batra's writings should be considered in terms of the philosophy of his mentor, Sarkar, which has had such a big influence on him. The ideas of Sarkar are in the tradition of Hindu idealism - a cosmology stating that the universe, both inanimate and animate matter, is permeated with a singular consciousness, a living God. The basic premise is that the souls of all life forms have a singular embedded motive over the evolutionary eons, going from birth to death to birth again, to develop their consciousness. Once they reach the level of human reflective consciousness it is their duty to seek to ultimately unite it with the God consciousness. Part and parcel of this view is that humans should regularly practise yogic meditation - ideate on God - and follow an ethical and vegetarian life style. But Sarkar goes further than anyone else in declaring that God realization is easier with full participation in social service. According to this philosophy, Batra rejects the basic foundations of materialist economics, including the need to consume and acquire without limit, as well as the premise that the saving of capitalists promotes the greater good through investment, itself the penultimate justification for allowing inequality to exist. Instead, Batra promotes raising the incomes of people with the sole purpose to increase their consumption, but in a balanced and sustainable way - in harmony with nature, each other and other life forms. An equitable distribution is not seen as a means to only ensure material welfare but also to secure the ability of all to develop a full personality. This is an integral part of Sarkar's practical theory of PROUT - PROgressive Utilization Theory. Hindu idealism is a precursor of western idealism and the philosophical opposite of materialism. ... This article is about the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Prout may refer to: PROUT, Progressive utilization theory Prout College People with the surname Prout: Richard Prout William Prout (1785–1850), chemist Samuel Prout George Prout John Skinner Prout Gavin Prout Kirsten Prout William C. Prout Francis Sylvester Mahony, known as Father Prout Other: Prouts Neck, Maine Reliques of Father...

Bestseller

In 1980 he published Muslim Civilization and the Crisis in Iran where he predicted the fall of the Shah and the rise of a class of intellectuals, or Mullahs, followed by a drawn out war with Iraq. In 1984, he penned what was to become his first bestseller, first under the title “Regular Cycles of Money, Inflation, Regulation and Depressions”. A central theme of this book was that the mal-distribution of wealth, which Batra found to be the cause of past episodes of financial speculative manias that were followed by a crash and depression. Lester Thurow was so impressed that he wrote a preface stating the ideas were “novel and brilliant”. Renamed as The Great Depression of 1990, this book rose to first place on the New York Times bestseller list for Non-Fiction in the Autumn months of 1987, just as the Dow Jones share price index was about to suffer its biggest daily drop in almost sixty years. In 1988, he followed his success with another book on how to survive the predicted calamity. The book also made it on the bestseller list. However, due to his unorthodox and controversial views, and the eventual predictive failure of his bestseller, Batra fell out of favour with the mainstream academic community. Lester Carl Thurow is a former dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management and author of numerous bestsellers on mainstream economics. ...

Outcomes of predictions

When 1990 arrived, a minor depression hit Japan and there were concerns about the stability of the US banking system. However, monetary policy was accommodative and effective. Moreover, credible bank insurance was in place and the government had demonstrated resolve to be lender of last resort. As a result, there was no panic in the stock market or run on banks. His reputation rose in Europe on account of his correct prediction for Communism and he was awarded the Medal of the Italian Senate that year. In Japan, where an economic crisis had gripped the country, he continued to publish bestselling works. In the USA, however, his sales began to drop and his booming side-line career as a media commentator on matters economic and financial began to sour. Batra was even presented with an Ig Nobel prize. In the 1990s, he published such books as The Myth of Free Trade and The Pooring of America, criticism of free-market policies. Palazzo Madama house of the Senate of the Republic. ... The Ig Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early fall — a week or two before the recipients of the genuine Nobel Prizes are announced — for ten achievements that cannot or should not be reproduced. Sponsored by the scientific humor journal Annals...

Recent works

In 1998, Batra published Stock Market Crashes of 1998 and 1999. The book was revisiting the premise of his earlier bestselling work, arguing nothing had changed, only the palliative cures of economic policy had become more effective at suppressing the symptoms of financial capitalism, but not cure its underlying illness. He therefore predicted increasing stock market volatility. Again in 1999, he published a book The Crash of the Millennium, which suggested a plunge in stocks. The drop in high-tech stocks in the Spring of 2000 sent a shiver through the global market place. However, the capitalist system remained intact and he was proven wrong yet again. In 2004, he wrote a new book Greenspan's Fraud where he critically evaluates the policy prescriptions of this iconic figure of the economic, financial and political establishment. Squalltoonix (born March 6, 1926 in New York City) is an American economist and was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. ...

Books by Ravi Batra

• Studies in the Pure Theory of International Trade, 1973
• The Theory of International Trade under Uncertainty
• The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism, 1978
• The Great Depression of 1990, 1985
• Surviving the Great Depression of 1990, 1988
• Regular Economic Cycles: Money, Inflation, Regulation and Depressions, 1990
• The Myth of Free Trade: A Plan for America's Economic Revival. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993, ISBN 0-684-19592-5
• The Great American Deception: What Politicians Won't Tell You about Our Economy and Your Future. John Wiley & Sons, 1996, ISBN 0-471-16556-5
• Greenspan's Fraud: How Two Decades of His Policies Have Undermined the Global Economy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, ISBN 1-4039-6859-4
• The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, ISBN 1-4039-7579-5

See also

• Free Trade Controversy

Free trade is one of the most controversial topics of the 20th and 21th century. ...

External links

• Ravi Batra´s homepage
• Southern Methodist University
• Dr. Batra's interview with The Young Turks.