The Cornell University professor Kaushik Basu today took over as the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Finance Ministry in place of Arvind Virmani, who has joined the International Monetary Fund as an executive director.
Prior to this appointment, the 57-year-old Basu was the chairman of the department of economics (the Donald C Opatrny '74 Chair), Cornell University, where he had also served as Professor for the Centre for Analytic Economics and Programme on Comparative Economic Development earlier.
Prof Basu, who did his PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1974-76, assumes the charge of the CEA at a time when the economy is clearly showing signs of recovery but facing challenge of rising food inflation.
However, he refused to share his thoughts with reporters after assuming office today.
Basu is an economic theoretician of global standing. In 1992, he founded the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics. A visiting professor at MIT, Harvard and Princeton, Basu has published many papers in areas such as game theory, development economics and political economy.
An alumnus of St Stephen's College, Delhi he was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2008 and the National Mahalanobis Memorial Medal in 1989. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civil honours.
