The Good Lord

I recently had the opportunity to attend classes at University of Cambridge, Judge Business School in Cambridge, UK. Although all the classes were pretty interesting, the one that I found most exciting & intellectually stimulating was 'Financial Markets, Risk and Regulation'. This course was being taught by Professor Lord John Leonard Baron Eatwell. Lord John Leonard Baron Eatwell is a BA from University of Cambridge & a PhD from Harvard University. In addition to being part of the faculty at University of Cambridge, he is also the Director of the Centre for Financial Analysis and Policy and the President of Queen's College, University of Cambridge - the historical 550 year old institution. Lord John Leonard Baron Eatwell is a British economist who has served as the Chief Economic Advisor to Neil Kinnock, leader of the British Labour Party and was responsible for much of the work that helped the party substantially re-align their economic policies. Lord John Leonard Baron Eatwell is 67 years old and has written countless books, articles and case studies for several publications. His work is read and followed by industry experts and academicians in some of the top universities of the world.

Considering Lord John Leonard Baron Eatwell's such well-read, well-worked & high academician status, I was a little nervous and so were all the other students before going into class. I mean, come on, he is a Lord! And most Lords are notorious for being uptight about their lord status which they of course most certainly deserve based on their excellent achievements. One of the biggest mistakes that you can make as a commoner is referring to a Lord in a manner that he does not approve of. Some like to be called out as just Sir, some Sir so & so, some prefer Lord so & so and yet others like Professor Lord so & so. And dare you make a mistake in your reference, they can and will grill you down with their academic abilities, vast knowledge & world class experience that they have gained over the ages. Anyhow, with the nervousness on our minds and a pit in our stomach about coming face to face with such a huge name, we all finally got to class and here was Lord John Leonard Baron Eatwell getting ready with his slides (I took a quick picture for my blog when he wasn't looking):

Lord John Leonard Baron Eatwell teaching a course on 'Financial Markets, Risk and Regulation' at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge

Note something in the picture? His slides read the name of the course and his name, 'John Eatwell'. Yes, just John Eatwell. And just like the name on his slide, he was unlike any other Lord. He was a regular, casual & fun guy whose example for what constitutes money (re-payment of a debt) included 'an occasional daughter in some parts of the world'. There was nothing uptight about him. He was a normal professor who was approachable and very eager to teach kids who were less than half his age with 1/100th of the knowledge and experience base as him; kids who could not even properly answer his first question, "Define money."

I must say, I have always hated Finance. Being a hard core engineer and technical marketer, finance is one aspect of business that I have always wanted to stay away from (although I knew that at some point I would have no choice but to tackle it and take it head on). But Lord Eatwell made me fall in love with it, with just one class. His course mostly revolved around Financial Markets with a focus on the Great Depression after the World War II and the Great Recession that started in 2007. The main goal was to analyze and understand the economic, social, and political events that led up to both these events in history and the reforms and actions taken by individuals, private sector and the governments that helped the financial graph go up. The best thing about the course was not just the content but the way the content was presented. Lord Eatwell has this very innate ability to create a story with a surprise at the end that makes you want to think, makes you want to read and makes you want to research. It stimulates your mind and your senses so that when class finishes, all you want to do is wait for the next class (almost like some addictive soap opera) so you can find out what happened in the story after where he left of. There are few people in this world who can make a boring subject like financial markets so interesting and addictive. No wonder, he's a Lord!

What I was most intrigued by, as the course moved forward, was the fact that Lord Eatwell was focusing most of his attention on the U.S. markets. I mean, I HAD expected that, considering that no matter what the world says and feels about the U.S. economy, it still drives what happens in the rest of the world but sitting two hours away from London, I had rather expected that the course might have more of a European focus. And then it just clicked in my head, "Oh, he's a Harvard." :) No wonder most of the reading material that he recommended for the course was that of professors from Princeton, Harvard & Wharton, in addition, to his own, of course. 

Thank you to Lord Eatwell, I learned a lot and most importantly, found a new area of study that I liked and perhaps might want to pursue in the future. I also learned that not all Lords are old and uptight, that some are old and downright amazing like Lord Eatwell. That success and power does not go into every person's head. That some stay as humble and down to earth as always regardless of their status. Just like one of my role models, S. Manmohan Singh, our Prime Minister of India, who also happens to be an economics graduate from University of Cambridge. That the people who continue to live their life  learning their history in all humility sometimes end up making or becoming history. Hail to the Lord (Eatwell)! :)