Deepak K. Lal was the James S. Coleman Professor of International Development Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles, former President of the Mont Pelerin Society, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at University College London, and a Research Fellow and Member of the Board of Advisors for The Independent Review at the Independent Institute. He was educated at the Doon School, Dehra Dun, St. Stephen's College, Delhi and Jesus College, Oxford.
He was a member of the Indian Foreign Service (1963-66) and served as a consultant to the Indian Planning Commission, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, various U.N. agencies, and the ministries of planning in South Korea, and Sri Lanka. From 1984 to 1987 he was research administrator at the World Bank. Lal is the author of a number of books, including The Poverty of Development Economics; The Hindu Equilibrium; Against Dirigisme; The Political Economy of Poverty; Equity and Growth; Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Factor Endowments, Culture, and Politics on Long-Run Economic Performance; and Reviving the Invisible Hand: The Case for Classical Liberalism in the 21st Century.
He is the author of the foreword to the Independent Institute book, Making Poor Nations Rich: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Economic Development, edited by Benjamin Powell.
