Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
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- Create Date：2022-09-26 06:57:32
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Abhijit V. Banerjee
- ISBN：1610390938
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Summary
Why do the poor borrow to save？ Why do they miss out on free life-saving immunizations， but pay for unnecessary drugs？ In Poor Economics， Abhijit V。 Banerjee and Esther Duflo， two practical visionaries working toward ending world poverty， answer these questions from the ground。 In a book the Wall Street Journal called “marvelous， rewarding，” the authors tell how the stress of living on less than 99 cents per day encourages the poor to make questionable decisions that feed—not fight—poverty。 The result is a radical rethinking of the economics of poverty that offers a ringside view of the lives of the world’s poorest， and shows that creating a world without poverty begins with understanding the daily decisions facing the poor。
Reviews
Shubhra
，
To be honest the book mostly annoyed me – it’s a light read and though there is a lot of information， you don’t end with an understanding of any of the issues。 The chapters cover bite sized takes/ findings on specific issues - on how the poor behave， how it has been sought to be addressed， the impact of the intervention， etc。 – on food， health， risk， healthcare， savings， borrowings and so on。 It is no way an assessment of the lack of accountability， the waste and negligence， the arrogance in for To be honest the book mostly annoyed me – it’s a light read and though there is a lot of information， you don’t end with an understanding of any of the issues。 The chapters cover bite sized takes/ findings on specific issues - on how the poor behave， how it has been sought to be addressed， the impact of the intervention， etc。 – on food， health， risk， healthcare， savings， borrowings and so on。 It is no way an assessment of the lack of accountability， the waste and negligence， the arrogance in foreign sponsored development economics/ foreign aid， or any “real world” derailments and the decades of failure in fixing simple problems。 It seemed to encapsulate the problems with academia in general and the abstract， removed manner in which interventions to fix things are studied or sponsored from the rich to the poor。 And it is patronizing。 。。。more
Laura
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Excellent presentation of numerous actual studies on why certain policies and programs do and do not work， why those in extreme poverty seem unwilling to take certain measures that would seemingly improve their lives could be due to factors like lack of information or unintended collateral consequences。 I learned so much。 Definitely worth the read。
Fawwaz
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This book is an economical study on how to fight poverty。 One side of the ultimate debate is the pro-foreign-aid side which is about providing aid to the poor to allow them to overcome certain hardships。 The other side favors allowing the poor to become business owners and entrepreneurs with limited access to foreign aid so they can support themselves。 This book tries to find the middle ground between these two sides。 Why foreign aid sometimes disappears or doesn't actually help the people at th This book is an economical study on how to fight poverty。 One side of the ultimate debate is the pro-foreign-aid side which is about providing aid to the poor to allow them to overcome certain hardships。 The other side favors allowing the poor to become business owners and entrepreneurs with limited access to foreign aid so they can support themselves。 This book tries to find the middle ground between these two sides。 Why foreign aid sometimes disappears or doesn't actually help the people at the bottom of the ladder？ Why the poor can't open businesses or grow them into something that can lift them out of their poverty？It gets a bit too deep in some sections for me。 But overall， a very enjoyable and enlightening read。 。。。more
Jonno
，
I definitely agree with the principles listed on the second-to-last page: the same solution might not work in every locale; we have to listen to poor people in order to design effective policies; and we have to subject our policies to testing to see if they work。 I think the authors don't always live up to their own standard and sometimes use "common sense" to explain something or draw a conclusion， rather than using evidence。 But I hope more people adopt their ideals and try to live up to them。 I definitely agree with the principles listed on the second-to-last page: the same solution might not work in every locale; we have to listen to poor people in order to design effective policies; and we have to subject our policies to testing to see if they work。 I think the authors don't always live up to their own standard and sometimes use "common sense" to explain something or draw a conclusion， rather than using evidence。 But I hope more people adopt their ideals and try to live up to them。 。。。more
Krishna Kumaar
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It was sitting in my library for a while before I took time to listen。Detailed explanation how backing up people living around the poverty line financially will help improve the society。
Emperador Spock
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A curious and occasionally genuinely thought-provoking set of case studies on the topic， with discussions that constantly and infuriatingly come 90% of the way to making any 'radical' or non-mainstream conclusions， without making them。 Edging Economics: a Radical Failure of the Book to Budge Status Quo。'If the village is left to its own devices， it seems likely that rule-making would be captured by the elite。' Word。 And zero follow-up。 WSJ and Gates will sure write those glowing reviews！ A curious and occasionally genuinely thought-provoking set of case studies on the topic， with discussions that constantly and infuriatingly come 90% of the way to making any 'radical' or non-mainstream conclusions， without making them。 Edging Economics: a Radical Failure of the Book to Budge Status Quo。'If the village is left to its own devices， it seems likely that rule-making would be captured by the elite。' Word。 And zero follow-up。 WSJ and Gates will sure write those glowing reviews！ 。。。more
Prasanna Sagar
，
Absolutely mind blowing。 They really deserve nobel。
Nhung
，
Tôi thực sự rất tâm đắc với quyển sách này。。。 nó cho tôi một cái nhìn rộng hơn， sâu hơn về cái nghèo， cách người nghèo tư duy， cách họ ra quyết định。。。đâu đó trong những trang sách， tôi nhìn thấy hình ảnh của gia đình mình cách đây 10-20 năm trước。 Có lẽ vì vậy mà với bản thân tôi， thật may mắn khi "đủ duyên" được đọc quyển sách này。 Tôi thực sự rất tâm đắc với quyển sách này。。。 nó cho tôi một cái nhìn rộng hơn， sâu hơn về cái nghèo， cách người nghèo tư duy， cách họ ra quyết định。。。đâu đó trong những trang sách， tôi nhìn thấy hình ảnh của gia đình mình cách đây 10-20 năm trước。 Có lẽ vì vậy mà với bản thân tôi， thật may mắn khi "đủ duyên" được đọc quyển sách này。 。。。more
Ashwin
，
This book is essentially the product of large number of randomised controlled trials undertaken in rural areas of developing and frontier nations to understand their economic behaviors in order to uplift them from poverty traps。 The results unfortunately doesn't inspire much faith that things can be improved drastically， but there are several bright spots。 And unless there's collaborative efforts at many different levels， we won't get far。 Technology and education offer hope， but ideology， ignor This book is essentially the product of large number of randomised controlled trials undertaken in rural areas of developing and frontier nations to understand their economic behaviors in order to uplift them from poverty traps。 The results unfortunately doesn't inspire much faith that things can be improved drastically， but there are several bright spots。 And unless there's collaborative efforts at many different levels， we won't get far。 Technology and education offer hope， but ideology， ignorance and inertia will constantly throw challenges till the new systems reach certain escape velocity。 。。。more
Clint Smith
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A great book for expanding my understanding of poor parts of the world and how to make a difference。
Felix Cullip
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People should read it。
Sara
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This book made a lay person like me want to know about about development economics。 The case studies used throughout the book allows the reader to actively engage with the content。 It is quite eye opening that sometimes the solutions to world's biggest problems are so simple。 As long as you keep your mind open to understanding the perspectives of other people， you will understand "Poor Economics"。 This book made a lay person like me want to know about about development economics。 The case studies used throughout the book allows the reader to actively engage with the content。 It is quite eye opening that sometimes the solutions to world's biggest problems are so simple。 As long as you keep your mind open to understanding the perspectives of other people， you will understand "Poor Economics"。 。。。more
Erik Surewaard
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The first part of the book is just statistic after statistic， which is taken from a 18-country dataset。 I can't even tell how many times I have read those words: "18-country dataset"。。。 It is also very repetitive in other topics: e。g。 in the first part it is page after page that the topic of "musquito net" is raised。 And each time with the same reason。What is amazing is that according to the authors， the world food problem can be solved when poor people start eating only a couple of bananas and The first part of the book is just statistic after statistic， which is taken from a 18-country dataset。 I can't even tell how many times I have read those words: "18-country dataset"。。。 It is also very repetitive in other topics: e。g。 in the first part it is page after page that the topic of "musquito net" is raised。 And each time with the same reason。What is amazing is that according to the authors， the world food problem can be solved when poor people start eating only a couple of bananas and a number of eggs a day。 This would give the poor people all their calories。。。 Apparently the authors do not understand why poor people buy more qualify foods when they have money: e。g。 shrimps and fish instead of rice。 The authors thinks it is only about calories and not about vitamins or minerals。 What also becomes clear is that the authors seem to have some kind of personal grudge against the scholars William Easterly and Jeffrey Sachs。 The authors criticize them over and over: many pages of the book are spent on their grudge against them。I was the most shocked when the authors displayed a curve （p。 222 of paperback edition published by Penguin） and said that it was "kind of like an S-curve"。 And this whilst is was most definitely NOT an S-curve。 It was like having an apple and saying it was a banana。The S-curve seemed be a favourite topic of the authors。 They defined the "poverty trap" as originating from an S-curve。 This without giving any evidence - e。g。 collected data - such a S-curve even exists。 Because according to the authors， lower income lead to constantly increasing debt。 Something that is strange since my reasoning would be that it is not only income but also the spending pattern that is relevant。 At one level of income there will a distribution of outcomes， whereby some people will be able to save and other run a deficit。When I read page 232， I was disgusted by how simplistic the authors think the world works。 They reason that when a poor worker seeks work for a few weeks in a city， that the worker should better sleep under a bridge！ This instead of paying rent for accomodation！ That way， the worker would save more money that would allow the worker to return to his home village more often。 Not that sleeping under a bridge is unsecure， unhealthy， uncomfortable and degrading a human to a bum。 This simplistic way of thinking comes back more often when the authors very easily reason that people should just reduce their drinking habits by taking one cup of tea less per day。 Mind you that we are talking about （extreme） poor people that already get too few food on a daily basis。 But then again。。。 These authors also reason that the poor people should just limit their diet to only bananas and eggs。I therefore do not recommend this book。 I give it 2 stars because some parts are a bit interesting， although those parts are taken from other authors: e。g。 "Nudge"， "The Bottom Billion"， "Why Nations Fail" or Yunus' writings on microcredits。 。。。more
Cedric Van
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Ein super interessantes Buch mit einer wissenschaftlichen Sichtweise und pragmatischen Ansätzen zur Armutsbekämpfung。 Statt über die "großen Fragen" der Entwicklungsökonomie zu diskutieren， beschäftigen sich die Autoren mit "kleinen" Hilfen， mit überraschenden Effekten。 Alle Instrumente werden durch viele Studien unterlegt。Von "Entwurmungsmitteln zur Steigerung des Schulbesuchs" bis "Zugang zu Finanzmärkten" werden verschiedenste Themen beschrieben。 Ein super interessantes Buch mit einer wissenschaftlichen Sichtweise und pragmatischen Ansätzen zur Armutsbekämpfung。 Statt über die "großen Fragen" der Entwicklungsökonomie zu diskutieren， beschäftigen sich die Autoren mit "kleinen" Hilfen， mit überraschenden Effekten。 Alle Instrumente werden durch viele Studien unterlegt。Von "Entwurmungsmitteln zur Steigerung des Schulbesuchs" bis "Zugang zu Finanzmärkten" werden verschiedenste Themen beschrieben。 。。。more
Radwa Esmaiel
，
الدرس المستفاد: مفيش اي فايدة。
Adam Kier
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Though some of the content may be a little dated at this point， still would recommend this one to anyone who wants a better understanding of just how expensive it is to be poor and how different countries around the world interact with poverty and economics。 A bit of a heavier read， but it might be worth it to push through！
tyra
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This book claims it's a unbiased work attempting to root out an economic， evidenced based approach to address poverty。 A solution which works counter to established methods developed so far。Whelp this work actually takes the very traditional stance of blaming the poor and their life choices for them being poor。 Their life choices being their inability to spend money they don't have， on necessities they require。 Also the poor are lazy if they aren't starting business。 which is a path the work its This book claims it's a unbiased work attempting to root out an economic， evidenced based approach to address poverty。 A solution which works counter to established methods developed so far。Whelp this work actually takes the very traditional stance of blaming the poor and their life choices for them being poor。 Their life choices being their inability to spend money they don't have， on necessities they require。 Also the poor are lazy if they aren't starting business。 which is a path the work itself acknowledges won't likely change their economic situation even if they attempt it。Then the work mis-represents other existing academic works to support such claims。Also it hates the idea of public education， eating enough caliories to maintain weight， providing contraceptives to third world countries （since teenage girls are choosing to get pregnant in the third world to baby trap older men。 A process the book denotes as girls getting a suger daddy）。The book also hates tea drinking （since if only the poor saved the money they spend on tea for 500 years， they would save enough to push past that sticky point in the S curve to financial success），Also hates public healthcare， regulation and some nurses who the author worked with one time？Like for real the author uses space in this book to complain about nurses who he personally didn't like。。。 in multiple chapters。 And space in the books conclusion。Oh and the book says everything the authors hate， the poors hate。 As from the beginning， the book makes clear the poor are a different people than you and I。 Which isn't a problem since the author will hold your hand and walk you though why they lack the ability to reason beyond their immediate wants。 And shouldn't ever take a moment to drink tea， or seek medical care when it's needed to keep them alive。Well I could go on， but basically this work is useless。。。 unless you want to hear complaints about nurses。 And I've no idea why it has the high ratings it does。 。。。more
Laura González
，
Easy to read and innovative in the way it presents new ideas about development。 A bit policy-biased in my opinion
Alex Goulden
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Banerjee and Duflo won the Nobel Prize in Economics for using Randomized Controlled Trials （RCTs）， the kind of robust studies usually found in medicine， to test out different poverty reduction strategies。 Poor Economics is essentially an overview of all the surprising and counterintuitive things they've found out from these studies。 It really is a barrage of groundbreaking insights one after another。 It is a remarkable book， I don't know if I've learned more from a book ever。 If you're interes Banerjee and Duflo won the Nobel Prize in Economics for using Randomized Controlled Trials （RCTs）， the kind of robust studies usually found in medicine， to test out different poverty reduction strategies。 Poor Economics is essentially an overview of all the surprising and counterintuitive things they've found out from these studies。 It really is a barrage of groundbreaking insights one after another。 It is a remarkable book， I don't know if I've learned more from a book ever。 If you're interested in international development it's a must read！ Here are some things that I learned from the book:Poor people don't spend each additional dollar of income on food until they have enough then start spending it on other things， instead there are expenses that we might assume are luxuries， like satellite TV， that are actually spent on instead of food even when people are very poor。 In addition， even the poorest on the planet have enough calories to perform phtsical labour， so there is no hunger-based poverty trap due to being physically unable to work。Even if the poor have access to extremely worthwhile health items like vaccines and have accurate information about the benefits， they might not take advantage because of practical barriers like finding the time or having to drag kids with them to a vaccination clinic。 When faced with immedate inconveniences for abstract and long term gain， many people do not go for it even though they understand that the gain is objectively worth it。 To fix this， make health care the natural default option when possible or at lease lower the barriers as much as possible， for example by having people go door to door with vaccines。 Students that don't show exceptional promise are often de-prioritized comoared to bright kids， because families may only have the money to educate one child fully or both partially， and they tend to put all their educational eggs in one basket。 Schools need to invest in every child regardless of ability because even basic education is extremely valuable。 Schools should also let children learn at their own pace。 Poor people don't only have more children due to a lack of contraceptives， they also need a lot of children to guarantee that at least a few make it to adulthood to financially support them when they're old。 This is why birth rates actually go down when child mortality decreases。 If poor people had a better social safety net so they didn't need to rely on children to provide for them when they're old， and if children were more likely to survive to adulthood， then birth rates will decline and more resources can be spent on each child， especially girls。Poor people experience much more risk than the rest of us。 They take （inefficient/expensive） steps to lower the risk that they face， such as by gaining income from several different sources even if this income would be lower than becoming an expert in one profession。 Insurance isn't available because the companies aren't comfortable with that level of risk， and people aren't comfortable with trusting insurance companies。 The authors suggest that the government should heavily subsidize insurance premiums to create an insurance market for the poor。 As the market matures the subsidies could possibly be phased out。Microfinancing can be a good tool to reduce poverty， but it is not a catch-all solution。 The microfinancing institutions have to put in strict requirements in order to keep costs - and by extension interest rates - low。 This means it can't be used to lend to risky entrepreneurship opportunities that have a higher chance of default。 Microfinancing is also unable to provide the sums of money for medium and larger enterprises to grow。 As a result of these limitations， exploitative moneylenders are still widely used。 It is difficult for poor people to save not only because they don't have much money， but also because of the psychology of saving; there is always a somewhat urgent use for money immedaitely and it's hard to favour saving for the future over the immediate concern。 Also， when the poor are not hopeful about the future or their chances of ever being able to afford what they are saving up for， it is all too easy to just spend the money on today。 Saving programs that require prevent withdrawals before a certain date can help， and if optimism about the future can be provided than saving rates would also likely increase。Most entrepreneurs are starting businesses out of necessity rather than some entrepreneurial spirit; often it's the only option when they can't get a formal job。 Also， although very small businesses can have a high rate of return as a percent， in absolute dollars the growth is excruciatingly small， so most small businesses never make very much money。 The value of having an actual job is higher pay of course， but also more predictable pay because it allows people to think linger term about their finances and plan better。 In this way， even jobs that are low paying with long hours can still have a positive impact。 Bad political institutions were brought in by colonizers because the institutions were designed for exploitation purposes only。 When the countries gained independence， the institutions remained and a vicious cycle。 The good news is that the wholesale replacement of bad institutions isn't needed to make some progress， even small changes can have an impact。 These include any sort of elections， even if they lack integrity， or some accountability mechanism like government audits even if there is no official consequence of a bad audit result。Overall， three things plague efforts to help the poor: ideology， ignorance， and inertia。 RCTs and policies that listen to the data can help us design better policy that caters to the actual lives that poor people are living， not misconceptions， stereotypes， or formulaic economic thinking。 。。。more
Prerna Munshi
，
The book debunks certain popular myths about the poor and the global poverty trap。 It presents both as less overwhelming and practically solvable if their issues are dealt with， one at a time。 The book is a product of the previous decade based on Duflo and Banerjee's extensive research and collaborative trials in 18 developing countries。 It holds poverty as an unnatural phenomenon largely in place due to unfair public distribution systems。 The book talks of a population that lives below 99 cents The book debunks certain popular myths about the poor and the global poverty trap。 It presents both as less overwhelming and practically solvable if their issues are dealt with， one at a time。 The book is a product of the previous decade based on Duflo and Banerjee's extensive research and collaborative trials in 18 developing countries。 It holds poverty as an unnatural phenomenon largely in place due to unfair public distribution systems。 The book talks of a population that lives below 99 cents per day and how their economic lives are a site of wonder。 It delves into the choices made by the poor with regard to nutrition， preventive health care， education， fertility， savings， micro-credit， entrepreneurship， public institutions， politics etc， the circumstances in which these choices are made and how these affect the larger picture。 It holds the poor in an empathetic light and doesnt addresses them as an alien category。 The language is simple and it doesn't impose an ideology but cites various instances where with little common sense and a practical foresight， the lives of the poor have been bettered。 The book discourages convenient assumptions and prophecies ， we tend to make about poor people and their needs。 A very relevant read。 。。。more
ClaireBunn
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not an economist， so I appreciated the concise and coherent explanations of novel economic concepts， but I thought the way they spoke about people experiencing poverty bordered on condescending and many of their “exciting” findings regarding human behavior were somewhat intuitive
Héctor
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Grandes autores libro mediocre， interesante si tu idea sobre economía es más bien nula。
Jack
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Educations and illuminating。 With a cup of coffee， the pages turn themselves， although it could be dense at times
Daniele
，
Tra 3 e 4 stelle。 Interessante。 Dà un quadro generale della situazione e delle teorie facendo anche degli esempi specifici; in ogni caso non fornisce soluzioni definitive
Juan López
，
Poot economics is a great book to start with for readers eager to expand their knowledge on economics。 Ranging from topics such as height and culture， to programs around the world to improve education levels and relating them to economic development and performance， the book grasps a wide range of variables that few consider when discussing economics。 It is an easy read， with little economic terminology （and every term is clearly explained）， making it a great read for non-economic readers。
Ali Connelly
，
Great research with some interesting anecdotes and findings， but a bit on the dry side。
Hanna
，
Read this for an econ class。 4 stars not because I enjoyed it but because as far as businessy books go it was actually very interesting and not too dry
Gatetua
，
The research process at the core of the book is intriguing。
Alex Ponce
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Puedo decir que es un libro interesante de leer para tener un concepto más amplio en temas de pobreza。 Los primeros 3 capítulos me resultaron fantásticos ya que me hizo ver desde una nueva perspectiva algunas de las causas de la pobreza， pero después del cuarto capítulo fueron más que todo recopilación de datos repetitivos en cuanto a préstamos financieros， entre otros。 Y lo cual hizo que perdiera mi interés en esa parte del libro， pero el último capítulo fue bastante bueno， ya que se hace un an Puedo decir que es un libro interesante de leer para tener un concepto más amplio en temas de pobreza。 Los primeros 3 capítulos me resultaron fantásticos ya que me hizo ver desde una nueva perspectiva algunas de las causas de la pobreza， pero después del cuarto capítulo fueron más que todo recopilación de datos repetitivos en cuanto a préstamos financieros， entre otros。 Y lo cual hizo que perdiera mi interés en esa parte del libro， pero el último capítulo fue bastante bueno， ya que se hace un análisis desde la perspectiva de la política， y es interesante leer sobre cómo la política tiene un papel bastante grande en el tema de la pobreza。 Recomiendo este libro a los que estén interesados en leer sobre el tema económico enfocado en los más pobres， ya que este libro nos trata de mostrar algunas de las causas más relevantes en cuanto a la pobreza en algunas comunidades o países。 Fue bastante interesante leer sobre el tema。Por último， puedo agregar que este libro si es una interesante fuente de información sobre el tema de la pobreza， ya que de una manera u otra se nos enseña que existen más factores que hacen que las personas se mantenga en la pobreza。 Por lo tanto si estas interesado en el tema este es un buen libro para ello。 。。。more
Rita Abecasis
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