Poor Economics

To cut to the chase: this is the best book about the lives of the poor that I have read for a very, very long time * Economist *A page-turner about the micro-economics of aid policy might not sound too probable, but that’s what [Banerjee and Duflo] have written, and it is a truly remarkable book … unmistakably contemporary, written beautifully * Guardian *It is the rich and humane portrayal of the lives of the very poor that most impresses. [The authors] show how those in poverty make sophisticated calculations in the grimmest of circumstances … Books such as these offer a better path forward * Financial Times *Overturns many received ideas about what it’s like to be poor – Hari Kunzru * Observer *A compelling and important read … an honest and readable account about the poor that stands a chance of actually yielding results * Forbes *Marvellous, rewarding … the sheer detail and warm sympathy on display reflects a true appreciation of the challenges their subjects face * Wall Street Journal *A remarkable work: incisive, scientific, compelling and very accessible, a must-read * Financial World *Banerjee and Duflo assemble a fascinating assortment of interventions from across the globe in their book … It is engaging and informative * Business World (India) *A marvellously insightful book by two outstanding researchers on the real nature of poverty – Amartya SenIt has been years since I read a book that taught me so much – Steven D. Levitt

Abhijit V. Banerjee (Author)

Abhijit Banerjee, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, is the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). In 2011, he was named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s top 100 global thinkers. Banerjee served on the U.N. Secretary-General’s High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Esther Duflo (Author)

Esther Duflo, winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Duflo is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Science, and has received numerous academic honors and prizes including the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences (2015), the Infosys Prize (2014), the Dan David Prize (2013), a John Bates Clark Medal (2010), and a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship (2009).