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Kaushik Basu appointed co-chair of UN panel
Born in Kolkata, the economist will lead the independent “High-Level Expert Group” tasked with developing recommendations for more comprehensive and sustainable indicators of prosperity.
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Pranavi Sharma - Sat, 10, May 2025
- 00:24 EDT
- 114
Kaushik Basu at a 2016 Chats in the Stacks talk about his book “An Economist in the Real World.” / Chris Kitchen/Cornell University file photo
Indian economist Kaushik Basu has been appointed co-chair of a new high-level United Nations panel that will explore alternatives to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the world’s dominant economic metric. UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced the formation of the expert group on May 8.
Basu, who is the Carl Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University and a professor in the SC Johnson College of Business, will lead the independent “High-Level Expert Group” tasked with developing recommendations for more comprehensive and sustainable indicators of prosperity.
“To achieve the progress we need, the well-being of people and the planet must be at the center of what we measure and value,” Guterres said. “Measures that complement GDP can enable a paradigm shift in policymaking that refocuses efforts on sustainable development and prosperity for all.”
GDP has long served as the primary gauge of economic health for governments around the world, but critics have pointed out its limitations in capturing social equity, environmental sustainability, and quality of life.
“In the world of economics, the GDP race — trying to outdo other nations in terms of GDP — has become the big game, ever since Simon Kuznets developed the concept of GDP in 1934,” Basu said. “However, in today’s conflict-ridden world, with sky-rocketing inequality, and dark clouds of climate disaster, it is not clear if this race is doing more good or harm. I am glad the UN decided to do a stock-taking of this central measure of economic well-being, and I look forward to participating in the exercise.”
Basu was Chief Economist of the World Bank from 2012 to 2016 and Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India from 2009 to 2012. Born in Kolkata, he studied at St. Xavier's Collegiate School and later earned his undergraduate degree in economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. In an autobiographical essay, Basu recalled that his father had hoped he would study physics, but in a time of political upheaval, economics became a compromise between rebellion and reason.
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