"Poor Economics" by Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo

"Poor Economics" does give a radically different perspective on how to address poverty in the so called, underdeveloped world. In general, I was aware of two radically different perspectives on the subject of dire poverty: (a) a conservative approach that would emphasize the need of people to assume responsibility for their lives, and (b) a liberal perspective that would emphasize that there is a need for intervention by those who are more fortunate.

The Millennium Project, developed by Jeffrey Sachs, sort of epitomizes the liberal approach. The UN identified with the goals of eliminating poverty throughout the world by identifying resources that would expended by all nations to address the various dimensions of poverty that are amenable to international funding, e.g., providing nets to avoid malaria, subsidizing the cost of fertilizer to improve farming productivity.

In general, I am aware that many conservative politicians stress the waste associated with misguided interventions that don't work.

The authors of his book have developed a huge data base that includes many real life experiments that explore the choices of people living in dire poverty. What the book emphasizes is that there is no "right way" to address the situations facing those living in such situations. Decisions are made that are often not in their best self-interest, but are a result of many other factors, including the inability to take a long-term view of their decisions. Their history has so biased them in terms of the radical inability to emerge from poverty that they often see no merit in actions designed to improve their status.

Ultimately, the book results in a need to be modest in laying out a vision for helping others. Approaches should be based on careful analysis of the variables affecting the decisions of the target population. What seems obvious to us is often not within the orbit of the poor.