My Reading Experiment (Book #4) - Poor Economics
Target: 100 books
Current: 4 books
I've been up to some things. I didn't forget my reading, just that I haven't gone all guns blazing as yet. I picked up Poor Economics several months back from my favourite book store, and I finally decided to commit myself to it.
#4
Poor Economics - A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
- Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo
Loved it, Non-fiction, Interesting, Widely acclaimed, Well researched, Layperson's book, Relevant
Many of us have been witness to poverty around us at one point or another. Especially those of us from countries in Asia and Africa. How many times have we seen a beggar on the streets carrying her scrawny little baby, and cringed inwardly, while turning away? Do you remember the kid at the traffic stop, who'd give your car windscreen a quick, unasked for cleaning, and hold out her/his hand for some money? Maybe we'd even give them something sometimes, but mostly we learnt to look past them, like they didn't exist. I mean, what could we do?
Abhijit and Esther help flesh out the poor for us. This book removes any one-dimensional image that we may have conjured up in our minds about those who live on less than a dollar a day. We learn about the Sachs vs. Easterly debate on the topic "To Give or Not to Give?", and the authors tell us that, unfortunately, there is no magic solution. We have no way to ascertain that aid always helps. What works in some cases, may not in others. They speak of how Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) have revolutionized the way development economists test their theories using large scale experiments. They talk of the proverbial poverty trap, and discuss if such a thing really exists.
I found the book very well structured. They first talk about food, health, education, and family size, and then delve into details about micro credit, micro savings, and the spirit of entrepreneurship among the poor. Until now, the most I knew about micro credit was that Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh won the Nobel Peace Price for his work with Grameen Bank, and that the canteen near my house in India is run by a women's self help group (SHG). I learnt a lot more from this book. As you might already have guessed, one of the things I loved most about this book was the varied range of social experiments that were carried out, and the reasoning that went behind trying to explain the sometimes confounding results that emerged from them. All in all, a wonderful introductory book for those who want to know a little something about the way poor people in the world live, the challenges they face, and the choices they often must make.
Current: 4 books
I've been up to some things. I didn't forget my reading, just that I haven't gone all guns blazing as yet. I picked up Poor Economics several months back from my favourite book store, and I finally decided to commit myself to it.
#4
Poor Economics - A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
- Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo
Loved it, Non-fiction, Interesting, Widely acclaimed, Well researched, Layperson's book, Relevant
Many of us have been witness to poverty around us at one point or another. Especially those of us from countries in Asia and Africa. How many times have we seen a beggar on the streets carrying her scrawny little baby, and cringed inwardly, while turning away? Do you remember the kid at the traffic stop, who'd give your car windscreen a quick, unasked for cleaning, and hold out her/his hand for some money? Maybe we'd even give them something sometimes, but mostly we learnt to look past them, like they didn't exist. I mean, what could we do?
Abhijit and Esther help flesh out the poor for us. This book removes any one-dimensional image that we may have conjured up in our minds about those who live on less than a dollar a day. We learn about the Sachs vs. Easterly debate on the topic "To Give or Not to Give?", and the authors tell us that, unfortunately, there is no magic solution. We have no way to ascertain that aid always helps. What works in some cases, may not in others. They speak of how Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) have revolutionized the way development economists test their theories using large scale experiments. They talk of the proverbial poverty trap, and discuss if such a thing really exists.
I found the book very well structured. They first talk about food, health, education, and family size, and then delve into details about micro credit, micro savings, and the spirit of entrepreneurship among the poor. Until now, the most I knew about micro credit was that Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh won the Nobel Peace Price for his work with Grameen Bank, and that the canteen near my house in India is run by a women's self help group (SHG). I learnt a lot more from this book. As you might already have guessed, one of the things I loved most about this book was the varied range of social experiments that were carried out, and the reasoning that went behind trying to explain the sometimes confounding results that emerged from them. All in all, a wonderful introductory book for those who want to know a little something about the way poor people in the world live, the challenges they face, and the choices they often must make.
"When you are unemployed, you don't want to eat dull wholesome food. You want to eat something a little tasty. There is always some cheap pleasant thing to tempt you."
Related links
Esther's TED talk - Social Experiments to Prevent Poverty
Hans Rosling's documentary - Don't Panic - The Facts About Population
Related links
Esther's TED talk - Social Experiments to Prevent Poverty
Hans Rosling's documentary - Don't Panic - The Facts About Population
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