Uploaded October 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
The Nobel Prize for Economics 2019 went to Abhijit Banerjee from India and his wife Esther Duflo, from France. Both are economists at MIT where they founded the Poverty Action Lab. They were awarded the Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking work on new, practical ways to fight global poverty.
“Economics is too important to be left to economists,” they say. By that they mean that their field is not just about money or markets: it also deals with human emotions and with people’s need for help in overcoming challenges in their daily lives. The Nobel Prize Committee praised them for “reinventing development economics” in a way that is driven by practical research on the ground and an aversion to ideology.
Their latest book 'Good Economics for Hard Times' (published in Dutch by Thomas Rap as 'Hoe economie de wereld kan redden) talks about current ecopolitical topics including immigration, trade wars and inequality. Their conclusion: “There are no iron laws of economics keeping us from building a more humane world.”
Abhijit Banerjee joined us for an online conversation moderated by Dutch economist Esther van Rijswijk on 6 October 2020. They were joined by Jasper Lukkezen, chief editor of ESB.
The Nobel Prize for Economics 2019 went to Abhijit Banerjee from India and his wife Esther Duflo, from France. Both are economists at MIT where they founded the Poverty Action Lab. They were awarded the Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking work on new, practical ways to fight global poverty.
“Economics is too important to be left to economists,” they say. By that they mean that their field is not just about money or markets: it also deals with human emotions and with people’s need for help in overcoming challenges in their daily lives. The Nobel Prize Committee praised them for “reinventing development economics” in a way that is driven by practical research on the ground and an aversion to ideology.
Their latest book 'Good Economics for Hard Times' (published in Dutch by Thomas Rap as 'Hoe economie de wereld kan redden) talks about current ecopolitical topics including immigration, trade wars and inequality. Their conclusion: “There are no iron laws of economics keeping us from building a more humane world.”
Abhijit Banerjee joined us for an online conversation moderated by Dutch economist Esther van Rijswijk on 6 October 2020. They were joined by Jasper Lukkezen, chief editor of ESB.
