Taking over as chief economic adviser to the Government of India has meant adapting to changes — some obvious and some more subtle, writes Kaushik Basu.
Paul Samuelson’s death on Sunday marks the end of an era for the profession of economics. Born on May 15, 1915 in the small steel town of Gary, Indiana, in the United States, Samuelson straddled the 20th century like no other economist.
Having spent much time the last few weeks studying the 123 Agreement for nuclear cooperation between India and the US, I now believe that it will be a grave mistake for India to turn down the agreement.
In today’s hi-tech world, the best and the worst job done by a senior manager can be hugely consequential for the corporation’s customers and therefore for the corporation, writes Kaushik Basu.
The rich get subsidies in numerous hidden ways, in response to lobbying that goes on behind the scene all the time. It is good that the anticipation of elections is one time that the poor make some gains, writes Kaushik Basu.
Inculcating the norms of honesty and pro-social behavior is important not only as an end in itself but because it is good for development, writes Kaushik Basu.
India’s current economic boom has lots of proximate causes the reforms of the early nineties, our high savings rate and the nation’s changing strategic position in the world, writes Kaushik Basu.
The Indian economy has many growth multipliers, one of them being changed social norms, writes Kaushik Basu.
In our headlong rush to commerce, if we ignore the arts and aesthetics, this is of course civilisationally bad, but, in the long run, may be bad for commerce itself, writes Kaushik Basu.
The Indian government and RBI's aim should be to curb short-term fluctuations in the exchange rate, since this upsets the plans of our industry and, especially, exporters, writes Kaushik Basu.
Either God does not exist and what happened that night was pure coincidence. Or God exists and loves me for my lack of faith and for not troubling him with daily prayers, says Kaushik Basu.