SECOND TEAM Nancy Lazar  ISI Group

Nancy Lazar captures her third straight No. 2 finish. For much of the past year, the ISI Group economist has been sounding the alarm on India’s inflationary economy, which she believes has largely been driven by price appreciation of food and commodities, as well as by the rapid expansion in the money supply and credit. Beginning in November, with updates in February and August, Lazar informed clients that the Reserve Bank of India’s efforts to control inflation by tightening the money supply would be largely unsuccessful and that higher prices would drive down consumer spending, thus slowing the nation’s real gross domestic product growth. Right on all counts. In August the Indian government reported that the wholesale price index surged 9.22 percent year-over-year in July; in September the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development had forecast that India’s economy would grow by 8.1 percent this year, down from 8.6 percent in 2010. Lazar “provides data and information and background economic material that’s actionable,” explains one advocate. “I use it to make investment decisions all the time.”