Manu Bhaskaran is Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the Governance and Economy department at the Institute of Policy Studies. He is also concurrently Partner and Member of the Board, Centennial Group Inc, a policy advisory group based in Washington DC where he heads the Group’s economic research practice.

Manu co-leads the institute’s work in the area of economics.

His major area of research interest is the Singapore economy and the policy options it faces.

Prior to his current positions, Manu worked for 13 years at the investment banking arm of Societe Generale as its Chief Economist for Asia. He began his professional career at Singapore’s Ministry of Defence, focusing on regional security and strategic issues.

Manu graduated from Cambridge University with a Masters of Arts and also has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Research Interests

Singapore economy and its policy options

Publications

• Bhaskaran, M. (Ed.). (various years). Singapore economic roundtable series. Singapore: Straits Times Press.
• Tan, K. S., & Bhaskaran, M. (2016). The role of the state in Singapore: Pragmatism in pursuit of growth. In L. Y. C. Lim (Ed.), Singapore’s economic development: Retrospection and reflections (pp. 51–82). Singapore: World Scientific.
• Bhaskaran, M. (2013). The giant neighbor: Why is China important? In A. Najam & M. Yusuf (Eds.), South Asia 2060: Envisioning regional futures (pp. 114–120). London: Anthem Press.
• Bhaskaran, M. (2013). The investment dimension of ASEAN. In S. B. Das (Ed.), ASEAN economic community scorecard (pp. 79–106). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
• Bhaskaran, M., & Wilson, P. (2012). The post-crisis era: Challenges for the Singapore economy. In P. Wilson (Ed.), Challenges for the Singapore economy after the global financial crisis (pp. 15–62). Singapore: World Scientific.
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Bhaskaran, M. & Ghosh, R. (2010). Global economic and financial Crisis: Impact on developing Asia and policy responses. In H. Kohli & A. Sharma (Eds), A resilient Asia amidst global financial crisis (pp. 19-77). New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Bhaskaran, M. (2003). Re-inventing the Asian model: The case of Singapore. Singapore: Institute of Policy Studies.

Op-eds/Commentaries

• Bhaskaran, M. (2017, June 5). Is Singapore’s hub status at risk?. The Edge Markets.
• Bhaskaran, M. (2016, December 6). Any delay in rolling out GST will take the shine off India. Livemint.

Committees/Directorships

• Partner and Member of the Board, Centennial Group Inc.