Berkeley, The Launch Pad

Berkeley was the bridge to the enduring intellectual and political engagements of Ajit Singh’s subsequent career. Alongside his fiery politics and cool economics, Ajit nurtured a rich social network and lasting friendships within the Sikh, economics and activist communities. Politics was a major preoccupation. Berkeley and its environs, where the revolutionary independence Ghadar movement had originated, were steeped in radical Indian and Sikh history. Apart from the new Free Speech Movement, ongoing civil rights movement, and Sikh nationalism which were major influences, Ajit became deeply involved with left-wing anti-Vietnam War campaigns. However, the focus on his studies was unwavering, and he developed as a theoretically and technically proficient applied economist. The serendipitous game changer was his assignment as research assistant on the visiting Robin Marris’s project on managerial capitalism where his stellar contributions induced an invitation to Cambridge UK and catapulted him on to the grand stage of Cambridge economics.