Excellent for non-economists

This is one of those rare books that strikes the right balance between being choked full of fascinating information, and not being over the head of a non-specialists. It has a tremendous breadth of coverage, and I would absolutely recommend it first (before anything by Sachs or Easterly, for example) for those interested in development economics. (It's not a bad read for economists either.)

For those who don't know: there's a longstanding feud between Sachs and Easterly--who sit at opposite ends of Manhattan at Columbia and NYU respectively--over, among other things, whether giving more aid to poor countries actually does any good, with Sachs arguing that it does, and Easterly basically arguing that if you don't have good "institutions"--which no one ever quite fully defines--nothing is going to help. Banerjee and and Duflo, at MIT, are trying to move the discipline beyond this old argument, and I would say largely succeed in this book. They do this by focusing on data driven results, especially experimental results, which are very rare in much of economics, but are becoming more and more the norm in development since there's a good deal of donor money and projects in poor countries can be remarkably inexpensive. So, for example, there's this really old irritating argument over whether giving away mosquito bednets, as opposed to selling them cheaply, actually leads to less usage because people don't value them. Well, someone finally actually did the experiment, and found that people who are given bednets mostly do actually use them, though they may take extras and waste them, and selling them really cheap works pretty well too. This is what development economists spend their time on.

But there are many more interesting facts to be learned from this book. For example, hunger apparently isn't a problem almost anywhere in the world, though a few specific spots in sub-Saharan Africa may be exceptions. But in most places, if you give people more money to be spent on food, they don't end up eating any more calories; they just eat nicer food. On the other hand, poor nutrition among children and pregnant women may be an issue with serious long-term costs. Community scale drinking water systems may be one of the most effective ways of preventing illness. Microfinance doesn't hurt the poor, but it doesn't seem to help all that much either. Insurance schemes for the poor may seem like a nice idea, but are very hard to implement and are often resisted by those they're intended to help.

My main quibble: This new approach to development is inherently microeconomic (as opposed to macro) in nature. You can't really do macroeconomic experiments where you transform one country's economy and not another. Which doesn't mean macro issues aren't discussed at all--there's a very long discourse on how poverty traps, essentially a macro idea, are to be understood at the micro level. But some of the big ideas in development are inherently macro in nature. One book can't do everything, but since I really do think this should be the first book non-specialists read, I would have liked the authors to summarize some of the other perspectives on the field a little more/better.

33 people found this helpful

Poor economics, but a treasure of great material

For anyone who's even briefly browsed The Economist, there is a lot we think we know about development, most of it gleaned from armchair economists' big ideas about what should be done, how the world can be changed, etc. This book takes a very different perspective and looks directly at what the evidence from the field really tells us. There is so much that we think we know but we just don't and, if you choose to read it, I recommend that you take pencil and paper, and ask yourself a few questions:

Why are the poor malnourished?
Why are the poor unhealthy?
Why do the poor have so many children?
Why don't the poor save?
Why are poor countries corrupt?

I found the book illuminating in coming to answer these questions from ACTUAL field evidence in ways that are not only unexpected but ring true. It is such a breath a fresh air when most of what we hear in this area is speculation about might happen given one or another aid policy.

Yet, and this is only one part where I should caution the reader, the book is not nearly as objective as the authors want us to believe. In some places (microcredit being the big example), the authors depend on the willingness of non-governmental institutions to share their private data and, understandably, are unwilling to explicitly write against them. Given the quality of most of the book, this becomes laughable in some places when, for example, the authors do a parenthesis on the great intelligence of a person in an out-of-the-blue impromptu or, in contrast to the rest of the book, when the authors become vague about unfavorable findings in their own statistical research. Such a conflict of interest is unavoidable for sure but I wish it had been stated more clearly at the beginning of the book.

15 people found this helpful

Packed with surprising results

Research-based insights that will surprise most of us. Must-read for the socially conscious. This book is packed with experimental-quality data and conclusions that gives us all the opportunity to help reduce poverty with initiatives that actually work.

5 people found this helpful

RCT does not stand for radio controlled toy

This book provides a close up look at a range of studies focused on the bottom billion. In it, you'll learn a bit about randomized control testing (RCT) and its strength as a research tool. Moreover, you'll get a glimpse into what various researchers have learned about the causes and effects surrounding hunger, disease prevention, economic progress, as well as how the poorest parents make family planning decisions.

4 people found this helpful

Good because new ideas

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I really liked this book because it cleans up with some former classics in development. I think certain aspects are left out (critical analysis about the downside of RCTs because of its predefined outcome indicators and hence ignoring the complexity of certain cause-effect-relationships)

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Certain perception we have within our "western" believe systems about "the poor" are verified.

What three words best describe Brian Holsopple’s voice?

quite neutral, ok.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

worth reading if in global economics, health, international relations etc

2 people found this helpful

A must read!

It will vastly expand your understanding of the world poor and the policies that help them (or not).

1 person found this helpful

excellent

interesting stories to accompany an important and well told interpretation of extreme poverty. great audio (or regular) book!

1 person found this helpful

Intelligent, often counter-intuitive and leaves more questions than answers

Challenging book, certainly no easy answers to take away. A bit dry in parts - requires your concentration - but the research findings are quite astonishing at times.
If you're looking for a simple ideology on poverty and aid, look somewhere else. If you're willing to dig in and navigate your way through the nuances then this might be for you.

1 person found this helpful

Highly recommend

Thoughtful, insightful, unassuming, and truly respectful of the poor. The methodical approach makes confronting poverty seem a realistic endeavor, and provides concrete examples of possibilities. Highly recommended!

1 person found this helpful

Subtle and Balanced

The experimental approach to understanding poverty highlights subtleties I didn't appreciate previously. Very enriching experience. The authors don't get carried away to jump to a conclusion quickly, so you might have to be patient with that.