Kaushik Basu

Kaushik Basu is Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank and Professor of Economics at Cornell University.

Commentaries by Kaushik Basu

Apr. 23, 2013

Two Policy Prescriptions for the Global Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – One thing that experts know, and that non-experts do not, is that they know less than non-experts think they do. This much …
Dec. 31, 2012

The Emerging Economies’ Eurozone Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – Most of today’s economic institutions, from money to banking, evolved over many years – the unintended consequences of deci…
Sep. 21, 2010

Prescription Financial Products

NEW DELHI – One positive fallout of the financial crisis of 2007-201? is our realization that financial products can be as complex and dange…
Feb. 6, 2004

The Politics of Business Outsourcing

Several years ago in Delhi, I called a pest control firm to treat my apartment for termites. A South Indian gentleman with a pleasing smile …
Nov. 14, 2003

Playing at Democracy

In Calcutta, when some younger kid came along and insisted on joining the game my friends were playing, we would let the new kid in, but onl…
Apr. 29, 2002

The Retreat of Global Democracy

A nasty, unintended side-effect of globalization is its corrosive effect on democracy. Even if individual countries are becoming more democr…
Mar. 27, 2002

Trade and the Third World

Hypocrisy and trade-talk go together, as America's decision to impose tariffs on imported steel shows. Although that action is expected to b…