Poor Economics

Starred review from April 15, 2012
Economists Banerjee and Duflo present an important analysis of the complexities of poverty around the world. Their work spans more than 15 years in dozens of underdeveloped countries. Here, they provide a refreshingly new understanding of poverty, along with their absorbing solutions to it. In 2005, people in worldwide poverty numbered 865 million, or 13 percent of the world's population. The focus in this work is on the poorest of the poor, where the estimated minimum level of income needed to secure life's necessities is 16 Indian rupees (36[) per person per day. Relating this fact to Americans, the authors suggest imagining trying to live in Miami, FL, on 99[ a day. The material covers the economic lives of the poor, various prevalent theories of poverty, how governments can succeed in combating poverty, what the lives and choices of the poor tell us, how the poor can attend school but not really learn, and how many poor actually benefit very little from insurance. VERDICT Narrator Brian Holsopple's nicely paced, steady reading conveys world poverty in a unique manner and is highly recommended for all university libraries. [The PublicAffairs pb published in March.--Ed.]--Dale Farris, Groves, TX

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