A Panglossian countenance on inflation

Central bank communication had moved decisively from "secrecy" to "transparency and accountability" over the decades.

In the third week of August 2019, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) watchers were in for some real “literary” treat. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, in a confident speech on the Indian economy, said: “I am not saying we maintain a Panglossian countenance and smile away every difficulty.” Many readers had to find out through a Google search that “Panglossian”, derived from a character in a Voltaire novel, is an attitude characterised by extreme optimism.

The minutes of the August 5-7, 2019, meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), published on August 21, inter alia, contained a statement from Chetan Ghate, then