jackie robinson was lucky, because he was rewarded for his skills and courage. he was named rookie of the year, played on six world series teams, and was once named the national league's most valuable player. someone less fortunate in this respect was josh gibson, considered the greatest power hitter of the negro leagues. he played right here in washington for the homestead grays in the 1930s and 1940s. some people say he was the equal of babe ruth as a hitter. but he never got the chance to play in the major leagues. he died at the age of thirty - five, three months before jackie robinson first trotted onto ebbets field with the brooklyn dodgers in 1947. both men played the game superbly, but whereas jackie robinson was honored and recognized in his lifetime for his achievements, both as a baseball player and a civil rights leader, recognition of josh gibson came only after his death. gibson, along with other greats of the negro leagues, was finally admitted to the national baseball hall of fame in 1972, a quarter century after he died and a decade after robinson was admitted. it is tragic that gibson did not live to see the integration of major league baseball or to enjoy the honors that were due him. however, even though society's recognition of gibson's achievements came too late for him to enjoy it, honoring him was still worthwhile. the belated recognition of gibson illustrates a most important reason to honor achievement : we do it not so much for the person being honored but rather for ourselves. please do not misunderstand me. i hope today is a joyous and proud day for today's prize winners and certificate recipients and their families. but i strongly suspect that when they set out on the path that earned them this recognition, they were not motivated at all by – and probably were not even aware of – the prospect of an award such as the princeton prize. they did what they did from inner motivation. so, if the prospect of recognition had little or nothing to do with their achievement, why go through the exercise? the reason they are being honored, and the reason we remember jackie robinson and josh gibson and countless other achievers in countless other endeavors, is because doing so provides inspiration for all of us. and, usually, the aspect of an achievement that is most worth recognizing is not the achievement itself but the spirit of energy, determination, and courage that made it possible. so, let me say to today's honorees : thank you

and build upon what we have attained. our credibility for sound macroeconomic management depends on it. as backdrop, there are two important transitions underway in the two largest economies. one is the realignment of fiscal, monetary and trade policies in the us, which has already imparted considerable financial volatility in the global economy in the last two months. even nafta is not sacrosanct, us trade partners, especially emerging markets, stand forewarned. and all this is even before the new us administration takes office later this month. the other transition, of course, is the rebalancing of china ’ s growth drivers from investment and exports to domestic consumption of goods & services. one of these transitions is welcome, the other not so. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches 8. for us, in india, good policy housekeeping should be the cornerstone. it is easy and quick to fritter away gains regarding macroeconomic stability. but hard and slow to regain them. what have we learnt about the important policy attributes in this context? 9. firstly, a monetary policy framework backed by legislation. the rbi now has a notified target for inflation of 4 percent, which a six - member monetary policy committee has been enjoined and tasked to realise. we have to ensure that this objective is secured on a durable basis given the progress already made. in addition to monetary policy, the gain on reducing inflation has been, in no small part, due to supportive policies of the government, especially the proactive management of the food economy since 2014. 10. low and stable inflation is an essential prerequisite for having a meaningful interest rate structure or regime whereby decisions by savers and investors help to achieve maximal allocative efficiency in an economy whose investment rate has to increase for better growth outcomes. concomitantly, we have to continue to press ahead for a more fluid, smooth transmission of monetary policy, as also enhance the formulaic linkage between changes in policy rates and other rates, including administered ones. the perception is that some of these adjustments are presently ad hoc. automaticity will help to impart more predictability and possibly make for better long - term decisions by economic agents. 11. in addition, while some government guarantees and limited subventions can help, steep interest rate subventions and large credit guarantees also impede optimal allocation of financial resources and increases moral hazard. the mandates for these have to be narrow, and thus perforce