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Kaushik Basu
For Kaushik Basu's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2021
Can economics keep up with technology and a changing world?
The average layperson cannot easily tell the difference between good and bad economics, owing not least to the discipline's broad range of content and methodologies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2021
The changing map of economics
The global economy and capitalism are at a crossroads, with the COVID-19 being the primary impetus for this view, followed by climate change, digital technology and changing labor markets.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2021
The post-pandemic whiplash awaiting the world’s poor
At the global level, the International Monetary Fund has warned of a “great divergence,” whereby rich countries recover strongly while others flounder.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2021
Morals and the COVID-19 vaccine market
More than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have now been administered worldwide, but vast disparities remain.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2021
India’s farm laws are a global problem
Agriculture is an intricate issue that raises important questions not just for India but for all economies struggling to strike a balance between the market and the state.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2021
For a post-nationalist Biden
Economic globalization is no longer compatible with the political balkanization that hypernationalism underpins.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2020
Language and lockdowns amid the pandemic
Reducing the issue to a binary question (Should we lock down or not?), or even a linear one (How much should we lock down?), oversimplifies a complicated problem.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2020
The rise of Covidnomics
Once links between medicine and economics are pinpointed, fascinating policy ideas begin to emerge.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2020
For the 2020s, it's time to go back to the drawing board
Like W.H. Auden in 1939, we must accept the possibility that things could become far worse than they already are.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2019
Argentina — a cautionary tale for Trump's America
Argentina was one of the world's richest economies in the first few decades of the 20th century, but subsequently became a cautionary tale of how a wealthy country can lose its way.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2019
A thimbleful of optimism
Amid today's global conflicts, debasement of public debate, attacks on democratic institutions and escalating geopolitical tensions, it is hard to find much cause for hope. But it's still possible to restore faith in our shared humanity.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2018
Trade, technology and Xi Jinping's question
We may have reached a turning point in the march of technological progress — and we are navigating it very badly.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2018
The ethics of reducing wealth inequality
Addressing income and wealth disparities will require a careful balance between policies that ensure equality and policies that reward work and innovation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2017
The North Korean missile crisis
Will today's leaders show the same degree of strategic thinking that enabled the Kennedy administration to defuse the Cuban missile crisis?
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2017
Trump could be handing a big gift to China
A turn toward protectionism by the United States could well be a blessing in disguise for China.

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When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree