UN Secretary-General appoints Kaushik Basu, others, to high-level expert group on “Beyond GDP”

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Professor Kaushik Basu. PHOTO: economics.cornell.edu

The Secretary-General announced the appointment of Indian-origin economist Kaushik Basu of Cornell University, along with several others, to an independent High-Level Expert Group to develop recommendations for measures that complement or go beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Basu will be the co-chair of the 14 member Expert Group, which the UN describes as an independent body made up of eminent scholars and experts from various domains, as well as reflecting gender and geographical diversity. The other co-chair is Nora Lustig. The Group will be supported by a technical secretariat composed of staff from the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG).

Basu is the Carl Marks Professor of International Studies in the Department of Economics in the College of Arts and Science, at Cornell. He is also professor of SC Johnson College of Business.

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The appointment of the Expert Group follows a request by Member States in the Pact for the Future and in the recognition that GDP, which is heavily relied upon as a gauge of prosperity and is the basis for government targets and rankings, provides an incomplete picture of the different dimensions of sustainable development goals set in 2015.

“This initiative could not be timelier. Every day, we witness the consequences of our failure to balance economic, social and environmental dimensions of development,” the Secretary-General is quoted saying in the press release. “To achieve the progress we need, the well-being of people and the planet must be at the centre of what we measure and value. Measures that complement GDP can enable a paradigm shift in policymaking that refocuses efforts on sustainable development and prosperity for all,” he added.

“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 is quoted saying in a Cornell press release May 9. “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 bio, on his eponymous website, kaushikbasu.org, shows he  served from 2012 to 2016 as the Chief Economist of the World Bank. Educated at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and the London School of Economics, Basu has published extensively in development economics, game theory, welfare economics and industrial organization. His most recent book The Republic of Beliefs: A New Approach to Law and Economics was published by Princeton University Press in 2018. His books have been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Russian and French.

Basu received the Indian civilian award, the Padma Bhushan, in 2008. He   has held visiting positions at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and the London School of Economics, Harvard University, Princeton University and M.I.T. He was Professor of Economics at the Delhi School of Economics, where in 1992 he founded the Centre for Development Economics and was its first Executive Director. He is also a founding member of the Madras School of Economics.

The High-Level Expert Group members – all working in their personal capacity – include:

• Assem Algursan
• Kaushik Basu (co-chair)
• Martine Durand
• Haishan Fu
• Enrico Giovannini
• Carol Graham
• Naila Kabeer
• Damien King
• Nora Lustig (co-chair)
• Pham Khanh Nam
• Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi
• Mari Pangestu
• Joseph E. Stiglitz
• Leonard Wantchekon

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