Anirban Basu

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Chairman & CEO
Sage Policy Group

Since he founded Sage Policy Group, an economic and policy consulting firm headquartered in Baltimore, in 2004, Anirban Basu has emerged as a well-known pundit on the state of Maryland’s economy.

As his company’s website notes, he has been called “an economist with a sense of humor, which is considered high praise in the dismal science.”

Various local news outlets, including this newspaper, have identified Basu as an influential and powerful local business leader, and in  2014, Gov. Larry Hogan appointed him chairman of the Maryland Economic Development Commission, a position he held through 2021.

He also serves as chief economist for a number of organizations around the country and currently lectures at Goucher College as their distinguished Economist in Residence.

Basu is on the boards of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, St. Mary’s College, the University of Maryland Medical Center, the University System of Maryland Foundation, the Lyric Opera House and the Archdiocese of Baltimore School System. He is also on Truist Bank’s advisory board.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service at Georgetown University, his master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and his master’s in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. He earned his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Maryland School of Law and completed his doctoral work at University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a concentration in health economics.

Since he founded Sage Policy Group, an economic and policy consulting firm headquartered in Baltimore, in 2004, Anirban Basu has emerged as a well-known pundit on the state of Maryland’s economy.

As his company’s website notes, he has been called “an economist with a sense of humor, which is considered high praise in the dismal science.”

Various local news outlets, including this newspaper, have identified Basu as an influential and powerful local business leader, and in  2014, Gov. Larry Hogan appointed him chairman of the Maryland Economic Development Commission, a position he held through 2021.

He also serves as chief economist for a number of organizations around the country and currently lectures at Goucher College as their distinguished Economist in Residence.

Basu is on the boards of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, St. Mary’s College, the University of Maryland Medical Center, the University System of Maryland Foundation, the Lyric Opera House and the Archdiocese of Baltimore School System. He is also on Truist Bank’s advisory board.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service at Georgetown University, his master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and his master’s in economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. He earned his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Maryland School of Law and completed his doctoral work at University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a concentration in health economics.

This profile is part of The Daily Record's Power 100 List for 2023-2024. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. See the full list at origintdrdev.wpengine.com.