He (or she?) has to spend a good deal of time heading-off the attacks you see above—”ivory tower intellectual,” “elitist,” and so forth.
He invited it with his language and professions of acuity in economics and declaring his education.
Those who don't know Indians very well will take that as elitism when in fact he states his bona fides as simple fact. He speaks from a position of self-described authority while at the same time denouncing said authority. It's just his way.
I would have preferred he tried to explain Chaos Theory. THAT would have had me reaching for the Thesaurus.