Poor Economics : Rethinking Poverty & the Ways to End It
Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo
Random House, 2013

Imagine you have a few billion dollars and want to spend it on the poor. How do you go about it? Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo have pioneered the use of randomized control trials (RCTs) in development economics through their award-winning Poverty Action Lab. They argue that by using RCTs and, more generally, by paying careful attention to the evidence, it is possible to make accurate—and often startling assessments—on what really impacts the poor and what doesn’t. Revelatory and impassioned, Poor Economics is a path breaking book that will help you to understand the real causes of poverty and how to end it.