24 Facts About Kaushik Basu

Kaushik Basu was born on 9 January 1952 and is an Indian economist who was Chief Economist of the World Bank from 2012 to 2016 and Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India from 2009 to 2012.

Kaushik Basu is the C Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics at Cornell University, and academic advisory board member of upcoming Plaksha University.

Kaushik Basu began a three-year term as President of the International Economic Association in June 2017.

From 2009 to 2012, during the United Progressive Alliance's second term, Basu served as the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.

Kaushik Basu then attended London School of Economics and was awarded MSc in economics from University of London in 1974.

Kaushik Basu remained at the London School of Economics, University of London for his PhD, from 1974 to 1976.

Kaushik Basu completed his PhD at University of London under the tutelage of Amartya Sen.

Kaushik Basu has received honorary doctorates from Lucknow University, Lucknow, in 2011, Assam University, Silchar, in 2012, Fordham University, US in 2013, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, in 2013, University of Bath, UK in 2016, on the occasion of the university's fiftieth anniversary, and the Jadavpur University Kolkata in 2018.

Kaushik Basu has held visiting professorships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, the Universite catholique de Louvain's Center for Operations Research and Econometrics in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, and the London School of Economics, where he was a distinguished visitor in 1993.

Kaushik Basu is the editor of the Oxford Companion to Economics in India, published by Oxford University Press, a compendium on the Indian economy.

Kaushik Basu was the president of the Human Development and capabilities association founded by Amartya Sen.

Kaushik Basu is the Editor of Social Choice and Welfare, Associate Editor of Japanese Economic Review, and is on the Board of Editors of the World Bank Economic Review.

Kaushik Basu was elected to take over as president of the International Economic Association in June 2017, for a three-year term.

Kaushik Basu is the motivation behind Arthapedia, an online portal that provide explanations to the concepts used in Indian public policy to assist its understanding among citizens.

Kaushik Basu created Dui-doku, a competitive two-player version of Sudoku.

Kaushik Basu has been the on the Social Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize from 2011, serving as Jury Chair from 2012.

Kaushik Basu teaches at Cornell University, where he has a joint appointment as an economics professor in the Department of Economics and the SC Johnson College of Business.

Kaushik Basu has written on the importance of Adam Smith's identification of the invisible hand of the market and how that helps coordinate the self-interested behaviour of individuals to achieve order and optimality in an economy.

Kaushik Basu feels that this is such an unexpected finding that it led many traditional economists to overlook and then forget that moral qualities, like honesty, fairness, and integrity are critical for an economy to flourish.

Kaushik Basu feels the need to promote quality thinking in government and public debate.

Kaushik Basu has written in favour of Marx's ideal of a society where each person gets according to their need and gives according to their ability.

Kaushik Basu argues in his book, Beyond the Invisible Hand, that the fault lies not in the Marxist aspiration but in using the wrong blueprint to get to such an ideal.

Kaushik Basu has recently worked on our collective moral responsibility and the role that individuals play in fulfilling them.

Kaushik Basu is married to Alaka Malwade Kaushik Basu with two children.