Data into Policy
Esther Duflo teaches economics at MIT, and is this year’s recipient of the John Bates Clark medal to an American economist under the age of 40 who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. From an MIT web site:
Duflo, a 37-year-old native of France, is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT and a director of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Her work uses randomized field experiments to identify highly specific programs that can alleviate poverty, ranging from low-cost medical treatments to innovative education programs.
Watch her talk at a recent TED conference, for a convincing story that simple economic theory, backed by controlled field experiments, can yield important changes in our world.
I teach principles of economics courses and a course in the economics of healthcare at Southern Oregon University.
