Poor economics : a radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty

Poor economics A radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty

Abhijit V. Banerjee, 1961-

Book - 2012

Billions of government dollars, and thousands of charitable organizations and NGOs, are dedicated to helping the world's poor. But much of the work they do is based on assumptions that are untested generalizations at best, flat out harmful misperceptions at worst. The authors have pioneered the use of randomized control trials in development economics. Work based on these principles, supervised by the Poverty Action Lab at MIT, is being carried out in dozens of countries. Their work transforms certain presumptions: that microfinance is a cure-all, that schooling equals learning, that poverty at the level of 99 cents a day is just a more extreme version of the experience any of us have when our income falls uncomfortably low. Throughout..., the authors emphasize that life for the poor is simply not like life for everyone else: it is a much more perilous adventure, denied many of the cushions and advantages that are routinely provided to the more affluent.

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Subjects
Economic assistance > Developing countries.
Poverty > Prevention.
Poverty > Developing countries.
Published
New York : PublicAffairs 2012.
Language
English
Main Author
Abhijit V. Banerjee, 1961- (-)
Other Authors
Esther Duflo, 1972- (-)
Edition
Paperback edition
Item Description
"Hardcover edition published in 2011. Paperback first published in 2012" -- Title page verso.
Physical Description
xi, 303 pages, 1 unnumbered page : illustrations, portraits ; 21 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [277]-293) and index.
ISBN
9781610390934
  • Think again, again
  • Private Lives. A billion hungry people? ; Low-hanging fruit for better (global) health? ; Top of the class ; Pak Sudarno's big family
  • Institutions. Barefoot hedge-fund managers ; The men from Kabul and the eunuchs of India: the (not so) simple economics of lending to the poor ; Saving brick by brick ; Reluctant entrepreneurs ; Policies, politics
  • In place of a sweeping conclusion.
Review by Library Journal Review

Economists Banerjee and Duflo present an important analysis of the complexities of poverty around the world. Their work spans more than 15 years in dozens of under-developed countries. Here, they provide a refreshingly new understanding of poverty, along with their absorbing solutions to it. In 2005, people in worldwide poverty numbered 865 million, or 13 percent of the world's population. The focus in this work is on the poorest of the poor, where the estimated minimum level of income needed to secure life's necessities is 16 Indian rupees (36 cents) per person per day. Relating this fact to Americans, the authors suggest imagining trying to live in Miami, FL, on 99 cents a day. The material covers the economic lives of the poor, various prevalent theories of poverty, how governments can succeed in combating poverty, what the lives and choices of the poor tell us, how the poor can attend school but not really learn, and how many poor actually benefit very little from insurance. VERDICT Narrator Brian Holsopple's nicely paced, steady reading conveys world poverty in a unique manner and is highly recommended for all university libraries. [The PublicAffairs pb published in March.-Ed.]-Dale Farris, Groves, TX (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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