Research fellow Justin Sandefur is quoted in the New York Times Economix blog about the new World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu.
From the article:
On Wednesday, the World Bank announced its new chief economist: Kaushik Basu, a Cornell University economist and the former chief economic adviser to the Indian ministry of finance.
As noted by Justin Sandefur of the Center for Global Development, he will be the first Indian chief economist at the bank and the second from the developing world. (His predecessor, Justin Yifu Lin, is a Chinese national.) For years, developing economies have pushed for a greater voice within the Washington-based Bretton Woods institution.
“Kaushik is uniquely suited to help us offer evidence-based solutions and advice to client countries and provide innovative excellence in leading our development research,” Jim Yong Kim, who took over as the World Bank’s president in July, said in a statement announcing the hire. “Kaushik brings firsthand experience from a developing country and will be a terrific asset to the institution.”