Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty

Author: Abhijit V. Banarjee & Esther Duflo

Synopsis by Faisal Quaiyyum Inan

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Price Range:
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Synopsis:
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Poor Economics, one of the most extraordinary pieces of literature in the development and microeconomics written by the Nobel laureates economist couple, is a showcase of eight years of field studies on different poverty issues in developing countries. It is a praiseworthy fact that both the authors have broken some stereotypes regarding the problems of poverty with such strong evidence, even though many can argue that many development practitioners already know these facts. However, nobody before them could establish these theories and facts with such robust evidence. Nonetheless, they have contributed a lot to change the views and approaches of how poverty is usually dealt with.

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This book deals with a wide range of poverty issues such as poverty traps, the effectiveness of foreign aids, and how the poor think and make decisions on education, healthcare, savings, entrepreneurship, food consumption, etc. They have tried to listen to the poor, which is one of the most critical aspects of their rigorous way of theorizing the best strategies for alleviating poverty. Rather than laying out a wide range of conclusions, the authors have drawn some simple but powerful conclusions where they have tried to show how small changes can help mitigate poverty and how we all are a part of this process.

The vivid description of the Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) can help the readers who are enthusiastic about developing various experimental methods. This book can provide the readers some beneficial points to remember while executing and designing experiments and trials. 

The approach of this book is very easygoing. However, the reader must know the principles of microeconomics, statistics, and macroeconomics in order to comprehend this book wholeheartedly. Understanding econometrics can also be very helpful.