He was created a life peer as Baron Desai, of St Clement Danes in the City of Westminster, on 5 June 1991.

[4] In the 1970s, he taught an idiosyncratic version of economic principles to freshers at the LSE (starting with Piero Sraffa).

Desai analyses some of Marx's lesser known writings and argues that his theories enhance our understanding of modern capitalism and globalization.

His work was well received, with The Guardian stating 'If only socialists had studied Marx properly, they would have known all along that capitalism would triumph.

Examining Kumar's films – some of which Desai has seen more than 15 times – he discovers parallels between the socio-political arena in India and its reflection on screen.

He discusses issues as varied as censorship, the iconic values of Indian machismo, cultural identity and secularism, and analyses how the films portrayed a changing India at that time.

He is (2023) chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) Advisory Board, an independent membership-driven research network.

[8] It focuses on global policy and investment themes for off the record public and private sector engagement and analysis.

Since retirement he has published Rethinking Islamism: Ideology of the New Terror (2006), The Route to All Evil: The Political Economy of Ezra Pound (2007), a novel Dead on Time, (2009) and The Rediscovery of India (2009).

The candidate was subjected to an oral examination for two and a half hours and Gaddafi was asked to revise and re-submit it.