Esther Duflo, hands down, is one of my favorite economists. Her work spans a rich swath of development economics, touching subjects as diverse (and, ultimately, as related!) as microfinance, education, health care, corruption, women's agency, and, central to a good deal of her work, randomized field experiments. She is also the founder of the Jameel Poverty Action lab and co-wrote the incredible Poor Economics.
Recently, she won the American Economic Association's John Bates Clark Medal, an bi-yearly award given to the topic economist under the age of forty. Chris Udry, one of my favorite professors at Yale, ruminates on Duflo's work in a beautiful essay in the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Reading it, one is amazed about the impact one person can have on an entire field - disruptive technological change at its finest! My favorite part about the piece is how Duflo has remained an incredible academician while also serving as a public intellectual and activist. Excellent stuff.
No comments:
Post a Comment