Noted economist and former chief economic adviser in the Indian finance ministry, Kaushik Basu has been appointed as the new chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. Appointed him for the coveted post, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim has said that his experience from a developing country will be a terrific asset to the institution. Basu will begin his new innings in World Bank from October 1.
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim has said that having worded in a Ministry of Finance, in addition to his impressive academic achievements, Kaushik Kaushik is uniquely suited to help us offer evidence-based solutions and advice to client countries and provide innovative excellence in leading our development research.
It is noted that Kaushik Basu was on leave from his position as Professor of Economics and the C. Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University during his India stint. He also served as Chairman of Cornell's Department of Economics and Director of Cornell's Centre for Analytic Economics and headed the Programme on Comparative Economic Development.
A PhD degree from the prestigious London School of Economics had founded the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics in 1992 and is a founding member of the Madras School of Economics.
He has hold also visiting professorial positions at Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, the London School of Economics, and M.I.T.
He has written many books including Analytical Development Economics (1997, MIT Press), Prelude to Political Economy: a Study of the Social and Political Foundations of Economics (2000, Oxford University Press), and Of People, Of Places: Sketches from an Economist's Notebook (1994, Oxford University Press) and Beyond the Invisible Hand: Groundwork for a New Economics (2011, Princeton University Press and Penguin).
Basu is a fellow of the Econometric Society and has been awarded India's National Mahalanobis Memorial Award. In May 2008 Basu was awarded one of India's highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan, for "distinguished service of high order."
(With inputs from IANS)
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