Audiobook11 hours
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
Written by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo
Narrated by Brian Holsopple
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Billions of government dollars, and thousands of charitable organizations and NGOs, are dedicated to helping the world#8217;s poor. But much of their work is based on assumptions that are untested generalizations at best, harmful misperceptions at worst.#160;Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo have pioneered the use of randomized control trials in development economics. Work based on these principles, supervised by the Poverty Action Lab, is being carried out in dozens of countries. Drawing on this and their 15 years of research from Chile to India, Kenya to Indonesia, they have identified wholly new aspects of the behavior of poor people, their needs, and the way that aid or financial investment can affect their lives. Their work defies 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.#160;This important book illuminates how the poor live, and offers all of us an opportunity to think of a world beyond poverty.
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Reviews for Poor Economics
Rating: 4.335877923664122 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
262 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A very practical book. Based on numerous studies in various countries. The field data analysis keeps you going through policies that seem logical at first but which fail on the ground.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5very level and practical, if a bit dense. the personal anecdotes helped keep it relatable
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awesome book, very interesting and practical ideas described in effective detail
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5this is a really interesting read. he covers a lot of ground while still ensuring that its accessible.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was quite interesting tough I feel that the second part whic was the most interesting could have been more extensive.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Terrific read. Backed by research and data from 18 countries. Would recommend to people as a primer for development economics.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent book to understand the economics of the poor people
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm impressed to read this book. It's really a nice book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Amazing book that truly explores the life, behaviour and understanding of the poor. It paints a clear picture and clears our misconceptions we have. Insightful and beautiful.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An enlightening book. Solving poverty may be possible but it needs scientific and rigorous approach that this book delves into. Highly recommended.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While the book is exceptionally good, I have doubts as to the legality of this copy, seeing as it's layout, indexing, and graphs & illustrations that the book often refers to is completely haywire.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For anyone who has read The End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs then this is another book that you should read. The authors are both Professors at MIT, Banerjee is economics and Duflo is Poverty Alleviation.
Even though it is a book about the economics of the poor around the world, it is not a high brow criticism of the way the poor manage themselves, but a series of practical suggestions and principles and ways that we, them and all stakeholders can make a big difference to their lives.
A lot of the examples in the text are based on randomised trial that they have conducted, or are party to the data from. This has given them a unique insight to the best way of alleviating a series of problems; from intestinal worms, micro finance, malaria nets, child immunisation to minimising the spread of AIDS.
The fact that a lot of these have been tested, means that the suggestions in the book are eminently practice, and with the right structures in place will make a hug he difference to the worlds poor. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Authors review and research the economics of the poor who make less than 99 cents a day.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"Poor economics" puts a poor title and subtitle on a good book. The book isn't really "about a radical rethinking of the way to fight global poverty". It could have been if its conclusion had been its starting point. Applying the concepts of the dismal science on the lives of the poor (mostly in India), the two authors show that marginal incentives work and provide huge quick benefits. In part one, the authors look at hunger, health care, schooling and family planning. Their cases and findings are very interesting. The main lesson is that a puritan wagging of the finger is inappropriate. The poor make poor decisions, because they are trapped in their situation. Frivolous spending such as spending money on sugary goods instead of healthy food thus can be economic under their circumstances of their not benefiting from savings and investment in a highly uncertain environment. Similar to medieval Europe where people's lives fluctuated between feasts and famine. Part two looks at insurance, micro finance, saving and entrepreneurship. Given the recent prominence of micro finance, I found it a bit tedious and repetitious.All their examples show that a little care and attention can lift people out of misery - but only for a short time. Economic incentives work but are not sufficient to lift people permanently out of poverty. The depressing conclusion of the authors is that the poor environments and lack of support often means that the improvements shown are not sustainable without transforming the community too.The individualistic economic approach has to be supported by a communal or governmental effort. Unfortunately, local power often rests on keeping the others, and especially the poor, down. So any initiative to alleviate the lives of the many would endanger the existing power structure. Help can only come from an independent source not interested in preserving and even willing to fight that power structure (federal government, religious societies, international donors and agencies). While the book's examples are from Third World countries, its lessons are even more relevant for the deprived parts of so-called "developed countries". Hopefully, the authors pen a "poor economics II" that works on the political economy of poor places. Recommended.