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Kaushik Basu

Kaushik Basu

Writing for PS since 2002
100 commentaries

Kaushik Basu, a former chief economist of the World Bank and chief economic adviser to the Government of India, is Professor of Economics at Cornell University and a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

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  1. The Economic Consequences of Legal Behavior
    basu100_David Dee DelgadoGetty Images_newyork David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

    The Economic Consequences of Legal Behavior

    Mar 15, 2024 Kaushik Basu highlights the potential benefits of emphasizing adherence to the spirit of laws, if not their letter.

  2. Economic Possibilities for Our Overworked Grandchildren
    basu99_Spencer PlattGetty Images_tax wealth Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    Economic Possibilities for Our Overworked Grandchildren

    Feb 21, 2024 Kaushik Basu shows how it is possible to redistribute income from the rich to the poor without undermining individual incentives.

  3. Remembering Robert Solow
    basu98_David L. RyanThe Boston Globe via Getty Images_robertsolow David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

    Remembering Robert Solow

    Jan 15, 2024 Kaushik Basu honors the life and work of the pioneering scholar, who died in late 2023.

  4. The Biggest Threats to Global Economic Stability
    basu97_robertsrobGetty Images_worldeconomy robertsrob/Getty Images

    The Biggest Threats to Global Economic Stability

    Dec 27, 2023 Kaushik Basu highlights the urgency of re-thinking some core assumptions amid debt distress and rapid technological change.

  5. To Save Democracy, Fight Inequality
    ghosh57_ FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_WEFprotest Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

    To Save Democracy, Fight Inequality

    Oct 26, 2023 Kaushik Basu argues that efforts to mitigate income and wealth disparities need not weaken economic incentives.

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  1. vbadre1_ DeAgostiniGetty Images_icarusbruegel DeAgostini/Getty Images
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    Business Lessons from the Fall of Icarus

    Vanessa Badré scrutinizes a Flemish masterpiece to glean insights into the challenges of corporate social responsibility.
  2. patten164_ JUSTIN TALLISAFP via Getty Images_hongkongsecuritylaw Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

    China Tightens Its Grip on Hong Kong

    Chris Patten condemns the latest attempt by the Communist Party’s puppet government to curb democratic freedoms.
  3. op_tasca1_Long WeiVCG via Getty Images_e-cny Long Wei/VCG via Getty Images

    The Struggle for Currency Supremacy

    Paolo Tasca

    New techno-powered alternative currencies should not be seen as decisive challenges to the US dollar. Instead, they are best understood as pawns in an older game of strategic dominance for which there is no end in sight.

    expects that digital assets will accelerate efforts to create alternatives to the US dollar.
  4. khrushcheva179_JEWEL SAMADAFP via Getty Images_rupertmurdoch Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images

    The Oligarch, His Ex-Wife, Her Mother, and Rupert Murdoch

    Nina L. Khrushcheva contemplates the media mogul's impending marriage to the Russian biologist Elena Zhukova.
  5. bp immigration Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

    The Immigration Tinderbox

    In the United States and Europe, immigration tends to divide people into opposing camps: those who claim that newcomers undermine economic opportunity and security for locals, and those who argue that welcoming migrants and refugees is a moral and economic imperative. How should one make sense of a debate that is often based on motivated reasoning, with emotion and underlying biases affecting the selection and interpretation of evidence?

  6. arezki19_MARCO LONGARIAFP via Getty Images_senegalelection Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images

    Senegal’s Election and Africa’s Future

    Rabah Arezki considers what Bassirou Diomaye Faye's presidency could mean for one of Africa's most closely watched democracies.
  7. disparte5_ Kevin DietschGetty Images_FSOC Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    America Must Lead on Crypto Regulation

    Dante Alighieri Disparte urges policymakers to take decisive action and set new rules for the industry in 2024.
  8. gul6_Hasan MradDeFodi Images via Getty Images_ghannouchi Hasan Mrad/De Fodi Images via Getty Images

    Rached Ghannouchi’s Plight Deserves More Attention

    Abdullah Gül decries the prosecution and imprisonment of Tunisia's widely respected avatar of Islamic democracy.
  9. okonjoiweala27_GIUSEPPE CACACEAFP via Getty Images_WTO13ministerialconference Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images

    WTO Reform Is Everyone’s Responsibility

    Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala writes that meaningful change will come only when members other than the US help steer the organization.

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