Kaushik Krishnan is chief economist at the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, an independent think tank that produces economic and busin...
Kaushik Krishnan is chief economist at the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, an independent think tank that produces economic and business databases. Krishnan’s work focuses on CMIE’s flagship Consumer Pyramids Household Survey, which it touts as “the world’s largest household panel survey, the largest regular household survey in India, and the largest household survey to be conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.”
Based on data from more than 75,000 households over the course of this year, Krishnan co-authored an analysis that questioned assumptions about India seeing a “V-shaped” recovery – ie, a quick bounce-back following the remarkable contraction in the economy due to the lockdown earlier in the year – and explained how all was not what it seemed with the unemployment rate, which had seemed to recover almost fully.
Over email, I spoke to Krishnan about what indicators he’s focusing on, whether India is really on the path to recovery as many claim it is, and what we still need to understand about this unprecedented year.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to be chief economist at CMIE.
I wish I had a clear, linear story but reality is often messy! I actually started life as a lawyer, and went to law school...
