In theory, globalization has the potential to raise everybody's wealth: Those who gain from it gain enough to be able to compensate the losers. But that potential is seldom realized, says Kaushik Basu, Cornell's C. Marks Professor of International Studies, professor of economics and director of the Center for Analytic Economics.

"In practice there are segments of the population that lose out. For instance, in poor nations, skilled workers see a disproportionate rise in their incomes. But unskilled workers often see no such gains," says Basu. "And since with globalization prices in developing countries often rise to catch up with those in industrialized nations, the unskilled workers may actually be worse off."

Basu is currently in India, where the "Oxford Companion to Economics in India," which he edited, was released by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi in February. The compendium includes 198 authors and 204 entries and, according to one reviewer, weighs 5 kilograms, but Basu puts in the disclaimer that he has not weighed it himself.

He is now working on another book on the misuses of economic theory in public life.

Basu is a cautious advocate of globalization, a term which he concedes is a dirty word in certain parts of the world because it is "wrongly associated with global corporate control."

He adds: "Vast sections of the world's population, especially in India and China, have benefited because of globalization. At the same time, of course, we do not want a few large global corporations to control the world. But it will be wrong to try to stall the entire process of globalization because of this. The aim should be to curtail its bad effects."

India's growth rate has risen steadily and is catching up to China, says Basu, adding that both countries have large regions that are among the world's poorest.

"This last year India's income grew by 9.2 percent, which is very close to the 10 to 11 percent that China has done in recent years," he says, adding that economic progress of both India and China offers promise to Africa and the developing world at large.

"[While there is] no such change yet visible in Africa, there are pockets of dynamism. But the fact that China started growing fast from 1979 and India from 1994 after so many decades of stagnation raises hope that the same can happen in Africa. And we must all try to do our share in making that a reality."

Basu met with Cornell President David J. Skorton during his trip to India in January. Of the university's relationship to India, Basu says:

"Cornell has deep links to India. Two of India's most famous entrepreneur-industrialists -- Narayana Murthy and Ratan Tata -- are Cornell trustees. Tata was also a student at Cornell once [B.Arch. '62]. Cornell's agriculture researchers and hoteliers have had long-standing links to India, including some from the time when the poet Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in literature, founded India's Viswa Bharati university in the early 20th century.

"India is about to enact a new law to permit foreign universities to open campuses in the country. Should this happen, Cornell should think about its own position on this, including the possibility of greater involvement in India."