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Abhijit Banerjee

Abhijit Banerjee is Ford Foundation Professor of Economics at MIT and co-Founder and Director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. He is naive enough to continue to believe in hope and reason.

Articles by Abhijit Banerjee

UPA is not able to take credit for what it has done

The tragedy of the UPA is not that it didn’t do anything, but that it is not able to take credit for what it has done. By protecting the guilty, it surrendered the governance agenda to AAP.

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Updated on Mar 26, 2014 01:57 AM IST

US-type primaries to pick PM candidate for Cong is good idea

It is rare that a party has an unchallenged leader who does not want to be nominated, which offers the great advantage that he can impose the primary on the party without worrying about what it means for his own prospects.

Updated on Jan 17, 2014 01:23 AM IST

Promises to keep: why AAP must form govt in Delhi

The AAP should form the government in Delhi because if it fulfills the promises, we will have new heroes. If it fails, they can still explain why it happened. Voters in India are very forgiving — what they cannot stand is the posturing and the lying, writes Abhijit Banerjee.

AAP-convener-Arvind-Kejriwal-shows-victory-sign-with-party-members-in-Delhi-PTI
Updated on Dec 20, 2013 11:57 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

China wants more babies now, but can it succeed?

Beijing has changed its One Child Policy but past experience shows that demographic reversals are not easy. The experience of Japan and several countries in Southern Europe that are now trying very hard to avoid demographic collapse, suggests it is not easy to switch back. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

Updated on Dec 05, 2013 10:05 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Rich economy poor ecology

Strides in education, health and life expectancy may have been driven by economics, but it’s high time that we factored ecological concerns into our unprecedented growth story if we want to avert the looming disaster brought on by climate change. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Sep 28, 2013 08:12 PM IST

Global nationalism

We cannot fix climate change on our own. It is the original collective action problem. It will not work unless almost all the large economies come together on one platform. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

Updated on Jul 30, 2013 12:26 AM IST

Game of gastro-generosity

I must be missing something obvious. The considered opinion in India, or at least the bit of it that I read in the Press, seems to hold that the Right to Food Bill (RTF) may well be bad economics but it is surely good politics, at the least from the point of view of the ruling coalition. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Jun 24, 2013 10:22 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

It’s plane and simple

Private investment may not be the perfect solution to the problems our national airline faces. But, the public cannot be made to pay the high cost of public sector intervention, Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Mar 31, 2013 10:39 PM IST
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New day, new start

The Aadhaar-enabled direct cash transfer scheme will not solve all problems that dog the State’s delivery programmes. Still, it is a worthwhile experiment. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Jan 01, 2013 12:28 AM IST

It’s time to get real

Why are we so outraged by the view that the recent rash of rapes in India has something to do with public displays of intimacy? Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Oct 30, 2012 10:37 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Butterly brilliant

Verghese Kurien was more than the 'Milkman of India'. The systems that he put in place at Amul and its cooperatives show that he was also an innovator par excellence. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

Updated on Oct 01, 2012 11:35 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Not fired with logic

A study on the use of improved cooking stoves in Odisha proves that new technologies work best only when they sit lightly on the lives of their users, Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Jul 25, 2012 10:34 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Not caste in stone

Unlike Gandhi, BR Ambedkar believed that compulsion can bring about conversion. Thanks to this, caste-based discrimination and prejudice are on the decline today. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Apr 10, 2012 06:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

And that is a fact

If honest data collection and transparent analysis are given short shrift, we will be left groping for hidden agendas, writes Abhijit Banerjee.

Updated on Feb 02, 2012 09:16 PM IST
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This is tunnel vision

With its mandate of ensuring that rules are followed, the lokpal may stifle initiative and discourage talented people from taking up bureaucratic jobs, Abhijit Banerjee writes.

Updated on Dec 27, 2011 11:38 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Learning curbs

The Right to Education Act says much about what school premises should look like. But what about ensuring that a minimum set of skills is delivered to each child? Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Nov 13, 2011 11:28 PM IST
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Draw the right line

To end the confusion over the definition of the poverty standard, the State must define two benchmarks: an ethical one and an administrative one, writes Abhijit Banerjee.

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Updated on Oct 25, 2011 02:08 AM IST

The plots thicken

Land prices can be manipulated. But with a few key issues firmed up, the draft Land Acquisition Bill is the best option to protect farmers from being cheated. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Sep 19, 2011 12:18 AM IST
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Their capital gains

The Indian taxation system encourages the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few people. This is dangerous. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Aug 04, 2011 11:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Real life is boring (for them too)

The poor think that any change that is significant enough to be worth sacrificing for will take too long. That’s why they focus on the here and now, write Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo.

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Updated on Jun 10, 2011 10:33 PM IST
Hindustan Times | ByAbhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo

Push the envelope

Kaushik Basu’s proposal of legalising bribery may not prevent the next big scam. But it has underlined the need for creative thinking to address social ills. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Jun 05, 2011 11:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Money can end corruption

When I was a student in Delhi, we had this wonderful form of protest called, without any obvious irony, a ‘relay hunger-str-ike’. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Jun 27, 2012 03:49 PM IST
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Once there was a city

Cities grow and prosper because they attract talent. In the case of Kolkata, the exodus of talent has led to more exodus. It is a former metropolis already beyond the pale. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Sep 10, 2011 07:49 PM IST
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A bend in the river

Egypt, an oligarchy, has a rare chance to establish a genuine democracy. To ensure that, the US will need to show a great deal of forbearance. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on Sep 01, 2011 10:27 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Let's keep the faith

The biggest threat to our democracy comes from our growing belief that nothing differentiates good politicians from bad ones. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on May 23, 2011 10:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi

A different dividend

Education is not a generic investment, argued economist Tapas Majumdar. So, before investing, the State should find out what the people want or believe. But our policy-makers don’t realise this at all. Abhijit Banerjee writes.

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Updated on May 21, 2011 05:02 PM IST
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On a different track

In his memoir, a former IFS officer writes that India has under-performed because it failed to stick to the ideals of the Mahatma and Jawaharlal Nehru, writes Abhijit Banerjee.

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Updated on Mar 06, 2011 01:00 PM IST
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Tank up for growth

Thanks to the Rs 60,000-crore oil subsidy bill, the Govt is living beyond its means. It’s high time the Centre decontrols fuel prices and spends that money on development, writes Abhijit Banerjee.

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Updated on Mar 06, 2011 06:13 PM IST
Hindustan Times | By

Our terminal illness

There is no reason for the State to own airlines or airports. The private sector has the capital and management capacity to provide the necessary services, writes Abhijit Banerjee.

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Updated on Jul 06, 2010 10:41 PM IST
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Welcome, all members

The Indian State must work with its alienated citizens and make all Indians believe in the Idea of India, writes Abhijit Banerjee.

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Updated on Jun 09, 2010 09:40 PM IST
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