Urjit Patel's quiet exit from Reserve Bank doesn't really help India

Patel's decision to leave rather than accept the threat to the RBI's autonomy has a certain nobility. But he might have offered a fuller explanation of the circumstances behind his exit

People who know Urjit Patel, the Reserve Bank of India governor, told me he would stay on and fight. That was in late October, when it became clear from his deputy’s speech that New Delhi was making a determined attempt to curtail the RBI’s authority as a banking regulator, and even to raid its capital.

But after a November meeting of the institution’s board, it looked like the central bank and the government had decided not to bring matters to a head and Patel, whose term expires in September 2019, would stick around. The truce was short-lived. Citing personal reasons,