An Economist's Miscellany

Kaushik Basu is Professor of Economics and Carl Marks Professor of International Studies, Cornell University, USA.

• ContentsPrologue Introduction to the Second EditionPART ONE: MAKING INTRODUCTIONS1. Entering North BlockThe Last Column, The First WeekLife in the Heart of Indian Government 2. Ambiguity, Equivocation, and Economics PART TWO: ACADEMIC TRANSGRESSIONS3. Policy: Foreign and Domestic China's Power and Corbett's Gun The ABC of 123 India Globalizing A Higher OpportunityThe Ethics of Reducing Inequality4. On the Road A Traveller's Guide India's Wild East Among the Zapotecs Economics and Zen in Munich Namaste: Welcome to Israel Praying in the Foothills of Mount Fuji The Maharaja Disappoints 55Taking Off: Airports and EconomicsFragments from an Africa Diary: Johannesburg, Pretoria, and DiepslootSamoa Diary Bhutan: Development Economics in the HimalayasPostcard from Malaysia: Through the Fog, GentlyA Hinduism more TolerantIn Good Faith: A Journey, An EducationAn Evening in FlorenceThe Turin MiracleDoes god exist? There Are Several Possible Hypotheses?5. Persons and Ideas Amartya Sen: Re-inventing Himself Prasanta Pattanaik: A Fine Theorist Engels and the Quest for a Better World Paul Samuelson and the Foundations of Economics In Praise of Doubt Kenneth Arrow: Possibly the Most Important Economist of the Twentieth CenturyJohn Nash: The Shakespeare of EconomicsThe Anti-Argumentative Indian: Amartya SenThe Angry Intellectual: Ashok MitraThe Problem of ChoiceStiglitz's Sticky PricesManmohan Singh: A Quiet Courage6. Culture and Economics Art and Commerce Markets and Aesthetics Norms and Prosperity Trust and Development Where India Is Ahead of China7. Conundrums of Finance and Economics Burning Cash: A Finance Conundrum Why Some Financial Products Should be on Prescription Financial Scams and Ponzis Acquiring Land for Industry Bureaucratic Reform in India Labour Market Reform in India Whither Social Progress? Same-Sex Preference and Rights Evidence-Based Policy MistakesThe Ease of Doing Business Comes with Trade-Offs 8. Medley 106Are We Becoming Over-Cautious? My Worst Lectures India at 60 Mother at 90PART THREE: CONTEMPORARY POLICY EXCURSIONS9. India and the WorldIn India, Black Money makes for Bad PolicyIndia and the Visible Hand of the MarketResisting the Moral RetreatAnger Isn't EnoughTrump's Gift to ChinaFacing the SlowdownIn the Name of Education 10. Inequality and Labour PainsThe Insecurity of InequalityExperts and InequalityInequality in the Twenty First CenturyThe World Economy's Labour PainsProfit Sharing NowThe Rich Can Fight Inequality, Too11. The Global ChallengeAmerica's Dangerous Neo-ProtectionismReviving India's EconomyA Currency Crash Course for PoliticiansWhy is Democracy Faltering?A Thimbleful of OptimismThe Case for a Global ConstitutionThe Language of ConflictPART FOUR: LITERARY TRANSLATIONSBy Debt If Need Be The Birth of a New God PART FIVE: DRAMATURGIC INCURSIONSCrossings at Benaras Junction PART SIX: END OF ALLITERATIONSDuidoku and Ultimate Duidoku