‘Poor Economics’ by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo

Being 2 major professors in their field, Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo combine to produce an economic masterpiece which provides a clear insight to the difficulties of poverty and gives birth to innovative methods of combatting these issues. Along with these issues, Banerjee and Duflo provide a glance at their extensive 15-year research on poverty in countries around the globe, ranging from South Asia to Africa. 

The two professors open the book with an aim. They state that many people around the world believe world poverty is such a widespread and large issue; there seemingly is no way for them to combat it. Banerjee and Duflo’s intention with this book are to deter this belief and provide more information on this subject. 

Throughout the book, Banerjee and Duflo emphasizes the use of control trials in these areas to measure many different factors of poverty and the ‘poverty trap’. Uses of this range from the focus on the behaviour and psychology of these families to the uses and benefits of education in a practical sense. They strip away the notion of ‘ceteris paribus’ and look at all the factors of the issue, allowing for a deep and detailed examination of the problem

The chapter that particularly caught my eye was on health and the “low-hanging fruit” available to help improve global health. The authors argue that part of the issue is not the lack of the “fruit”, but the lack of the incentive for people in poverty to take such benefits. They tackle the problem that many impoverished people do not use the healthcare services they have received, concluding that it is due to a combination of lack of education, issues of belief and laziness that causes this. 

The authors’ ability to condense such a grand and, on the face of it, astronomical issue to an interesting and easy-to-pick-up book is such a delight. However, it still retains much of its economics and technical knowledge in a way that is friendly to all readers, no matter if they have studied economics or not. 

To conclude, ‘Poor Economics’ is highly recommended. Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo create a masterful picture of the issue of poverty that will provide a different view to the way you see the problem and show a perspective that you may never have even noticed.