Effective policymaking is based on economics which is a blend of empiricism as well as theory. It needs to be grounded not only in data, statistics and the regularities observed therein, but also analytics, deductive reasoning and logic, which are the constituents of theory.
Published during 2009–16, the seven years that Basu spent as a policymaker—first as chief economic adviser to the Government of India and then as chief economist of the World Bank—this volume draws on the work done by empirical economists and is rooted in analytics, even while addressing practical, down-to-earth problems.
The papers having a direct bearing on economic policymaking in this quintessential compilation range from topics such as financial regulation, global policy coordination, aspects of the Indian economy like fiscal and monetary policy design, inflation management, food-grain policy and, more generally, the influence of theory on government policymaking.
The volume addresses some of the most compelling challenges of our times, from the global financial crisis and sub-prime mortgage breakdown to corruption control and the design of interventions to provide subsidized food to the disadvantaged segments of society.