Bøger af Kaushik Basu

In Law, Economics, and Conflict, Kaushik Basu and Robert C. Hockett bring together international experts to offer new perspectives on how to take analytic tools from the realm of academic research out into the real world to address pressing policy questions. As the essays discuss, political polarization, regional conflicts, climate change, and the dramatic technological breakthroughs of the digital age have all left the standard tools of regulation floundering in the twenty-first century. These failures have, in turn, precipitated significant questions about the fundamentals of law and economics.The contributors address law and economics in diverse settings and situations, including central banking and the use of capital controls, fighting corruption in China, rural credit markets in India, pawnshops in the United States, the limitations of antitrust law, and the role of international monetary regimes. Collectively, the essays in Law, Economics, and Conflict rethink how the insights of law and economics can inform policies that provide individuals with the space and means to work, innovate, and prosper--while guiding states and international organization to regulate in ways that limit conflict, reduce national and global inequality, and ensure fairness.Contributors: Kaushik Basu; Kimberly Bolch; University of Oxford; Marieke Bos, Stockholm School of Economics; Susan Payne Carter, US Military Academy at West Point; Peter Cornelisse, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Gaël Giraud, Georgetown University; Nicole Hassoun, Binghamton University; Robert C. Hockett; Karla Hoff, Columbia University and World Bank; Yair Listokin, Yale Law School; Cheryl Long, Xiamen University and Wang Yanan Institute for Study of Economics (WISE); Luis Felipe López-Calva, UN Development Programme; Célestin Monga, Harvard University; Paige Marta Skiba, Vanderbilt Law School; Anand V. Swamy, Williams College; Erik Thorbecke, Cornell University; James Walsh, University of Oxford.Contributors: Kimberly B. Bolch, Marieke Bos, Susan Payne Carter, Peter A. Cornelisse, Gaël Giraud, Nicole Hassoun, Karla Hoff, Yair Listokin, Cheryl Long, Luis F. López-Calva, Célestin Monga, Paige Marta Skiba, Anand V. Swamy, Erik Thorbecke, James Walsh

Why do our friends have more friends than we do? How do you book the best available seats on a plane? And if jogging for ten minutes adds eight minutes to our life expectancy, should we still go jogging?The ability to reason is one of our most undervalued skills. In everyday life, we must put ourselves in the shoes of a clever competitor and think about how they might respond. Whether you are dealing with events on the scale of the Cuban missile crisis or letting go of anger, leading economist Professor Kaushik Basu shows how game theory - the logic of social situations - holds the key to better outcomes and lasting happiness.Full of fascinating thought experiments and puzzles, Reason to Be Happy is a paean to the power of rationality. If you want to have a good life and even make the world a better place, you can start by thinking clearly.

In diesem Buch argumentiert Kaushik Basu, einer der weltweit führenden Wirtschaftswissenschaftler, dass die traditionelle ökonomische Analyse des Rechts erhebliche Mängel aufweist und bestimmte kritische Fragen nicht zufriedenstellend beantworten kann. Warum werden gute Gesetze formuliert, aber nie umgesetzt? Wenn Gesetze nicht durchgesetzt werden, ist das dann ein Versagen des Gesetzes oder der Vollstrecker? Und, was am wichtigsten ist, wenn man bedenkt, dass Gesetze nur Worte auf dem Papier sind, warum sind sie dann wirksam? Basu bietet eine provokante Alternative, wie die Beziehung zwischen Wirtschaft und realer Rechtsdurchsetzung verstanden werden kann.Basu fasst die neoklassische Rechts- und Wirtschaftswissenschaft zusammen, bevor er sich mit den Schwächen dieser Disziplin befasst. Mit Hilfe der modernen Spieltheorie entwickelt er einen "Brennpunkt"-Ansatz, der nicht nur die eigennützigen Handlungen der Bürger modelliert, die Gesetze befolgen müssen, sondern auch die Funktionäre des Staates - Politiker, Richter und Bürokraten -, die diese Gesetze durchsetzen. Er veranschaulicht die Zusammenhänge zwischen sozialen Normen und dem Gesetz und zeigt, wie gut durchdachte Ideen das menschliche Verhalten verändern und fördern können. Zum Beispiel werden sich Geber und Nehmer von Bestechungsgeldern zusammentun, wenn sie vor dem Gesetz gleich behandelt werden. Und bei Nahrungsmittelhilfeprogrammen sollten Gutscheine direkt an die Armen ausgegeben werden, um zu verhindern, dass Ladenbesitzer subventionierte Rationen auf dem freien Markt verkaufen. Basu liefert ein neues Paradigma für das Zusammenspiel von Recht und Wirtschaft - ein Rahmen, der sowohl für weniger entwickelte Länder als auch für die entwickelte Welt gilt."Der Rechtsstaat als Geflecht von Erwartungen" zeigt die Grenzen und Möglichkeiten von Recht und Wirtschaft auf und schlägt eine neue Denkweise vor, die wirksamere Gesetze und eine gerechtere Gesellschaft ermöglichen wird.

A volume in the economic development studies section of this series, discussing the relationship between agrarian institutions and economic development and efficiency. Dr Basu is an associate editor of the "Journal of Public Economics" and the "Journal of Development Economics".

Leading economists address the ongoing challenges to economics in theory and practice in a time of political and economic crises.

One of the central tenets of mainstream economics is Adam Smith's proposition that, given certain conditions, self-interested behavior by individuals leads them to the social good, almost as if orchestrated by an invisible hand. This deep insight has, over the past two centuries, been taken out of context, contorted, and used as the cornerstone of free-market orthodoxy. In Beyond the Invisible Hand, Kaushik Basu argues that mainstream economics and its conservative popularizers have misrepresented Smith's insight and hampered our understanding of how economies function, why some economies fail and some succeed, and what the nature and role of state intervention might be. Comparing this view of the invisible hand with the vision described by Kafka--in which individuals pursuing their atomistic interests, devoid of moral compunction, end up creating a world that is mean and miserable--Basu argues for collective action and the need to shift our focus from the efficient society to one that is also fair. Using analytic tools from mainstream economics, the book challenges some of the precepts and propositions of mainstream economics. It maintains that, by ignoring the role of culture and custom, traditional economics promotes the view that the current system is the only viable one, thereby serving the interests of those who do well by this system. Beyond the Invisible Hand challenges readers to fundamentally rethink the assumptions underlying modern economic thought and proves that a more equitable society is both possible and sustainable, and hence worth striving for. By scrutinizing Adam Smith's theory, this impassioned critique of contemporary mainstream economics debunks traditional beliefs regarding best economic practices, self-interest, and the social good.

'The Retreat of Democracy' presents an expanded and reworked selection of Basu's best journalistic and academic writings on political and economic themes since the late 1990s. In addition to Basus critical essays on globalization and democracy, the book also moves onto wider terrain to ideas in economics, anthropological observations on social norms, the role of culture, and travel in India and abroad. While the essays range from studies on major economists such as Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz, to humorous encounters with Indian bureaucracy, two recurring themes run thoughout: first, that the ultimate objective of policy-making must be the progress of the disadvantaged, and ignoring market laws and individual incentives courts failure; second, that for the successful crafting of economic policy it is important to recognize markets as embedded in specific cultures and social norms. This volume is a clear, intelligible and highly engaging showcase of Basus global and humanistic views on politics, economics and democracy.