When the meaning is in the method
Two Nobel-prizewinning economists show how problems should be solved
Good Economics for Hard Times. By Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. PublicAffairs; 432 pages; $30. Allen Lane; £25.
WHEN THE authors of this excellent book were awarded the Nobel prize for economics last month, French media crowed that a Frenchwoman had won it; Indian media that an Indian-born economist and his wife had done so. Most reports eventually mentioned that their national champion was not the sole laureate. But the parochialism of the headlines bears out one of the book’s central observations.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline "Boots on the ground"
From the November 23rd 2019 edition
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