Summary of Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo's Poor Economics

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo's Poor Economics in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: 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 award-winning MIT professors, answer these questions based on years of field research from around the world. Called "marvelous, rewarding" by the Wall Street Journal, the book offers a radical rethinking of the economics of poverty and an intimate view of life on 99 cents a day. Poor Economics shows that creating a world without poverty begins with understanding the daily decisions facing the poor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Nov 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638158974

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo's Poor Economics

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The association of poverty and hunger is so strong in the Western world that it has become an institution, with governments constantly trying to feed their citizens.

#2

The idea of a nutrition-based poverty trap is very old, and it basically states that when someone is very poor, all the food they can afford only provides enough energy to simply live. As people get richer, they require less food because their bodies can produce more energy from what they eat.

#3

The author met a man named Pak Solhin in Java who explained how a hunger-based poverty trap works. Pak explained that if someone is hungry enough, he or she will work for just about any amount of food, even if it means doing menial tasks.

#4

The assumption behind the poverty trap is that the poor spend all their money on food, which would allow them to consume more calories and thus escape the poverty trap. However, this is rarely the case. Instead, they tend to buy better-tasting, more expensive food items.

#5

The Indian economy has grown at a rapid pace, but at the same time, the average Indian has decreased their caloric intake. This is despite the fact that the average Indian is now considerably richer than they were in the early 1980s.

#6

However, in today’s world, with enough food for everyone, it seems that most people can still afford an adequate diet, even if they are poor.

#7

The hunger-based poverty trap does not explain why people can’t escape poverty once they’re fed. This is because improved nutrition does not lead to higher incomes. It only leads to a higher standard of living.

#8

However, the world we live in today is generally too rich for poverty to be the main cause of people’s starvation. Instead, it is usually institutions or government failures that lead to the