Bullish on Books Blog

“Poor Economics” Wins the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2011

Poor Economics

" Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty " by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo was named the Financial Timesand Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2011 .

From the release:

"The book is a journey into the multi-faceted and complex lives of the poor, based on over fifteen years of work the authors have done with the poor, trying to understand the specific problems that come with poverty – and to find proven solutions.

The Award, which aims to find the book that provides ‘the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues’, was presented today to Abhijit V. Banerjee at the Wallace Collection in London by Lionel Barber, Editor, Financial Times, and Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. The keynote speaker was Lord Patten of Barnes, Chairman, BBC Trust.

Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo share a £30,000 prize (about $47,926).

Barber, Chair of the Panel of Judges, said: "I was blown away by the thoroughness of the empirical research....This is a business book in the broadest sense.' Blankfein commented: 'This is an important and thoughtful book. It provides real insight into many of the fundamental issues that can help alleviate poverty.'"

The judging panel for the 2011 Award was:

  • Vindi Banga, Partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
  • Lynda Gratton, Prof., of Management Practice, London Business School
  • Arthur Levitt, former Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission
  • Mario Monti, Pres., of Bocconi University, Milan, European chairman of the Trilateral Commission, honorary president of Bruegel
  • Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Nokia and Royal Dutch Shell
  • Shriti Vadera, Director of Shriti Vadera Ltd, Non-Executive Director of BHP Billiton and AstraZeneca

Congrats to the winners!

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