Former Chief Economist of the World Bank, Kaushik Basu is the C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics at Cornell University. He is an academic advisory board member of the upcoming Plaksha University. He began a three-year term as President of the International Economic Association in June 2017 and served as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India from 2009 to 2012.

Basu believes that good moral qualities are essential for growth and development within the economy.

In his paper, “Why, for a class of Bribes, the act of Giving Bribes should be treated as legal”, Basu argues that there is a need to decriminalise giving of the bribe so that the bribe giver may be encouraged to cooperate with law enforcement agencies. This has come under a lot of public debate.

Basu was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2008 and the Doctorate of Humane Letters, Fordham University, 2013. Kaushik Basu is a columnist for BBC News Online, the Hindustan Times, Business Standard and is the author of several books and papers on economics.