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Born in Bournemouth, Hampshire, UK, on 13 August 1912
Died in Winchester, UK, on 5 October 2007
After an early education in Tonbridge School in Kent, Terence Hutchison went to Cambridge, where he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in 1934 and an MA degree in 1937. He attended lectures given by John Maynard Keynes during these Cambridge years and remained under Keynes' intellectual influence for the rest of his life. It was no doubt because of this influence that he became interested in macroeconomic issues rather than in microeconomics. It was, however, as an historian of economic thought, economic methodologist and strident critic of neo-Ricardianism that he did his best work.
Terence Hutchison had a brilliant academic record as a student at Cambridge. Among his tutors was Joan Robinson. Terence always told me that Robinson was an outstanding tutor, but, later in life, he became highly critical of Robinson's ideology. In a paper (I do not know whether it was ever published), he attacked what he called 'the Cambridge version of the history of economic thought'. He believed that the doctrinal developments in Cambridge after the death of Keynes were increasingly taking the shape of neo-Marxism; and he of course intensely disliked any ideology that glorified not only Marxism but also both the Soviet and Chinese communist achievements.
In the perspective of the Cold War years in the 1 980s, I asked Terence once whether, in view of his consistent anti-Soviet stance, I could regard him as pro-American. Terence, I recall, thought for a moment, and then replied: 'No, I am not pro- American. But I am anti anti-American'.
Because of my Indian background, Terence and I often discussed the trends in Indian economy and politics. He was always interested to leam about the latest political and economic developments in India. His interest in India might have started because of V. K. R. V. Rao, who was his older contemporary and friend during his student days in Cambridge. Rao, who was my teacher at the University of Delhi, was recognised as the doyen of Indian economists in the 1950s. He was also a great administrator, and almost single-handedly established the now famous Delhi School of Economics.
Just before the outbreak of World War II, Terence...