Esther Duflo: Social experiments to fight poverty

www.ted.com Alleviating poverty is more guesswork than science, and lack of data on aid's impact raises questions about how to provide it. But Clark Medal-winner Esther Duflo says it's possible to know which development efforts help and which hurt -- by testing solutions with randomized trials.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/tra.... Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at www.ted.com/ind...

[@shashwatasamanta7358]

And that is the TED Talk before she won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2019. That passion and determination in her voice is a mark of things to come.

[@bhaswatmandal8751]

And she won 2019 Nobel for working on global proverty

[@vikitheviki]

She didn't win the Nobel prize..

[@HrishiGuitar]

@@vikitheviki yes she did, with Banerjee and Kremer

[@vikitheviki]

@@HrishiGuitar It's not a Nobel prize, it comes out of the Swedish National Bank in memory of Alfred Nobel.

[@HrishiGuitar]

@@vikitheviki yeah i know, buy everyone calls it the nobel prize informally :)

[@rational0]

@@vikitheviki LOL you are so right. But the low IQ masses are too ignorant to know they are ignorant.

[@mohitjain3496]

Congratulations on winning 2019 Nobel prize in Economics.

[@SuperSPINtoWIN]

Thank you Esther Duflo for your amazing book "Poor Economics"! You do an incredible important work! THIS really matters and makes me confident that there are effective ways to fight poverty! Keep it up!

[@MonikaMonikaaD]

Yeah! That's an excellent book! Amaziiingggg work!

[@rational0]

It is a total crap, yet more poverty economics to go with the poverty politics that the western imperialist use on the 3rd world. Anyone with 2 brain cells active will tell you economics of charity NEVER WORKS. That is not how the west got rich, and that is NOT how the east got rich. The only fools remaining are the south Asians and the africans and some south americans.

[@_nitin_69]

@@rational0 You should see a psychiatrist

[@hp86429]

@@rational0 most ppl get their marxist propoganda in their over priced college / university education . And then they get out of it and want to make a whole lot of money via capitalism . Hence they mix the 2 and we get the neolibeelral economics / globalisation agenda that they want to push onto everyone . Hence they will not understand Ur rational point dude . In fact will call u mad for not thinking like them and for not believing in their ideologically driven propoganda .

[@arupratan87]

@@rational0 Arre Sir, another intelligent and rational comment from you! I'm so glad. You simply rock!

[@dino0228]

So admire this kind of economics- scientifically tested with humanity. My only reservation is that while we wonder how to spend a million dollars, someone in a village in Africa loses a child because they had the misfortune living in a village that was randomly selected for no intervention. One has to wonder how much patience the developed world would have for being a guinea pig with such high stakes. It may be necessary, but there may be ways to reduce the misery in testing. We do it in medicine all the time. I stared at the little white dots with a heavy heart. Just a thought.

[@papaipanda7694]

Congrats ma'am to be a Noble laurete of Economics. Respect from India 🇮🇳

[@Hussein_Nur]

I like her accent. Its stereo typically strong, like someone is trying to offend a french person. She is a great woman, though. Lovely couple she and Abhijit.

[@Faran8721]

I think it is first time happend in the history that the couple got noble prize

[@surmilitaghoshal1331]

@@Faran8721 no.. Some couple have already got it.. Bt the no is poor... I think the first couple was pierre and Marie curie

[@Faran8721]

@@surmilitaghoshal1331 yes And 5 couple already got it and it is 6th couple. While marie curie got it twice and in history she has first person and first female got it

[@akash_goel]

"You cannot helicopter people out of poverty." - Esther Duflo, 2010

[@sanjuktachakraborty3728]

Obviously but for that only they are working a lot

[@mariospyrros6340]

sounds like milton friedman's helicopter money quote

[@AgrajRMarak]

Abhijit Banerjee,Esther Duflo both of them deserve to get Nobel prize.If i correlate my present place is posting ,where poverty is prevalent ,lots of malarial cases,low routine immunization rate ,free school ,free LLIN distribution is challenging.Govt is giving free antimalarials,LLIN and free vaccines still less in acceptance rate by the people.This experiments really opened our eyes.You people deserve it.

[@kaushikdas47]

Congratulations, madam ! 👍🏻 This is a topic I have always thought about since childhood, as it has no singular, definitive cure, but rather a collective effort and like you said, what works somewhere might not work elsewhere. But I do hope to see a poverty free World some day.

[@riddhimanmedhi99]

Excellent research! Absolutely phenomenal! One of the most well deserved Nobel awards ever. Hope more and more people take up this experimental approach to shape better policy.

[@Fahab747]

Brilliant ! A true scientific approach to a question plagued with judgmental ideologies. The US gvt made a great decision in integrating her !

[@Raw_naq]

And today she, with her husband won the Nobel

[@rational0]

It is yet more of the west fooling the rest. Learn to ignore the shining tinsel awards and think logically. Poverty economics to justify their poverty politics of charity and aid rather than trade.

[@arupratan87]

@@rational0 Wow! Another smart answer from you, Sir! (And very logical of course). Such a great personality.

[@justanotherview3243]

@@arupratan87 good one bro 🤣

[@beachcomber2008]

Admirable and very positive.

[@trailblazer3889]

Truly enlightening. She deserve that Nobel

[@views-qw9tf]

Your voice is heavenly, In love with the speech.

[@aaronwimberleymbamsf5776]

Duflo & Banerjee are truly inspirational in the work that they do. Thank you for this & thank you for your leadership.

[@ritam378]

Congratulations mam for winning the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2019 along with your husband.

[@55deepak555]

Her work is worth a noble 🙏🙏

[@views-qw9tf]

Kid, there are so many economists worthy of nobel, It's just inclined to Western professors.

[@DeepakSingh-wp2wq]

Uncle, I don't think so since her husband is an Indian.

[@philanthropistWen]

Congratulations🎉🎊 Nobel Prize for economics 2019

[@krish8873]

U did amazing ma'am.. hats off👏👏👏

[@shubhamjaiswal9037]

Congrats Maa'm . You are now a Nobel Prize winning Economist.

[@bhagyashreemunde549]

Who here after her winning Nobel Prize 👏💐🎊

[@free2damienr]

Esther Duflo you an absolute inspiration to all the aspiring economists out there!

[@arvind1724]

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING, Esther :)

[@leonicepaixao8630]

Great conference! The future of the world is our greatest concern. 🙂

[@sans2019]

Revolutionizing the social policy making ! Excellent !

[@tomoomen3952]

She is amazing, what a wonderful contribution she is making to the world!

[@AjayBamel]

Read her (and Abhijit Banerjee's) book, Good Economics in Hard Times. Loved it. They talk so much sense! Thank you for the wisdom.

[@somdeepkundu2506]

Such a beautiful and easy ways are out there.. all we need is educated and open minded politicians.

[@user-ys4nh7fq3k]

Wonderful words, and thanks for Spanish subtitles.

[@srana8137]

Many congratulations to Prof.Esther Duflo & Prof.Abhijeet Banerjee for winning most Prestigious award 'Noble Prize'.💐💐 Gad bless you both always!🙏 Lots of love & respect!🙌 🇮🇳

[@DeepakSingh-hl3er]

Congratulations Esther Duflo & Abhijeet.

[@roshan3113]

Good efforts with patience and faith really works.my gratitude to madam Esther and prof banerji of guiding the policies on poverty to have maximum benefit.may all be happy.

[@pintukumarthakur6167]

Esther duflo who is winner of nobel 2019 in economics that devotes her to eradicate the facing poverty life around the world especially many things which have been covered in different problems those countries are facing , her endeavour to fully focus the removing poverty line ......

[@ashleylovesdaddy]

She's a pleasure to listen to.

[@Scrungge]

Brilliant work, this talk deserves more recognition!!!

[@c_sateeshkumarsit.ac.inc_s1933]

Dr Sri Sri Shivakumaraswamiji, of Siddaganga Math lived for 111 years in Tumkur, Karnataka, India and served 10000 poor students of all caste and creed every year with free food, Free education and Free Lodging for last 80 years, which brought up lot of lives in Karnataka, who made Karnataka prosperous. This built good eco system in the region also inspired Karnataka Government and Government of India to introduce MID DAY MEAL programme all over India for school children. Revered Swamiji has to given Bharatna Ratna and Nobel prize for his life time achivement and practically uplifting the poor. IT IS NOT ON PAPER TO FIGHT POVERTY, IT IS ON THE REAL GROUND.

[@wenkaiyang1487]

A genius economist. All my respect for her. Thank you for the great contribution to economy.

[@a_rob]

Congratulation and respect from Bangladesh (🇧🇩)

[@kedarnathgantayat7136]

Congratulations madam .keep up your good work .

[@ankur1888]

Got to know her just after she won Nobel Prize. She is great... BTW beautiful accent! Cheers from India!

[@shbspl]

"These economics I'm proposing is the 20th century medicine. Slow, deliberate process of discovery. "

[@byir0070]

Congratulations on winning the Nobel Economic Prize

[@SuperAkashsagar]

Congratulations to the Indo-French partnership. You rock!

[@hitnailhalfway2485]

how and where is the indo French partnership?

[@SuperAkashsagar]

@@hitnailhalfway2485 Duffer. There are two outcomes (kids): a girl Noemie 5, & a boy Milan 7. 💟💗💓💕

[@bhavyakanzariya7124]

1:51 she is correct in both ways.

[@Sree613]

Hats off.

[@iftekharwafid3149]

That's it..I am going to study Economics at college

[@darky9102]

same here dude

[@dr.debajyotibose2928]

Congrats on the prize to you and Dr. Banerjee

[@Antagonistock]

I was studying 9th standard when this video came out

[@user-by7mv6tq2l]

Me too

[@madhurichamala2745]

Me too 😊😊

[@sanjuktachakraborty3728]

Now am reading in class 9 standard

[@guillaume6373]

I'd recommend looking up Effective Altruism which examines where people should donate money to help the most people

[@laurafranch7589]

Indagar y experimentar cuáles son las mejores maneras de acabar con la pobreza ... aunque desde una perspectiva un tanto demasiado vertical y de poder, está bien que se repiensen las medidas y políticas contra la pobreza que creamos desde el primer mundo.

[@chiwiitube]

LOGIC! THANK YOU! :p

[@justinewhitfield]

its a theory of political development. This is about reducing risk to shock. If you reduce a person's risk to various shocks (i.e. I have to pay a ton of money for hospital bills etc.) then their income can be distributed elsewhere. Full human development on all levels will increase prosperity economically. The argument to this particular approach to development is like "can lead a horse to water but cant make it drink". Communities involvement leads to more efficient develop't programs.

[@bittusumant]

And she got noble prize for this Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) Congratulations

[@Chuby_ubesie]

Awesome premise. But if the underlining issues if corruption and oppression by govt elites is not solved, it would be quite hard to really lift people out of poverty.

[@Mamtakumari-qn1oh]

Amazing one... i have a curiosity though, why to give lentils when Asha workers are already been there for such works... Process like deliveries are not frequent, appoint them for immunization. Implementation can overcome experiments ... :)

[@hemlatasaini4235]

Congratulations mam🙏🙏🙏👌👌👌

[@ccy45556]

Congrat on the Noble prize !!!!!

[@BikramMondalmbikram]

Incredible!

[@jaihind116]

Congratulations

[@musafz]

Love to see both your works implemented across the globe for the great good of the masses.

[@sangramchore6714]

Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉

[@saikat93ify]

Wow.! She did this 9 years before winning a Nobel Prize

[@victordelarey6914]

At 3:55 while she speaks about malaria she mentions 'contagion benefits', suggesting Malaria is a contagious disease. As far is I know, malaria is not contagious. Can someone please explain what she means?

[@Sagar-wn1po]

same doubt, are symptoms of malaria contagious?

[@himanshi_2024]

i think she meant it in context of positive consumption externalities

[@adarighosh8337]

Anyone like me watching this video now (2019) after she got Nobel!

[@SanjeevKumar-hn2ml]

Immunization , bed nets , deworming will save 603$ per person..

[@09Ozymandias]

Yes. She said she's French.

[@mdnazmulhossain8305]

Congratulation Madam and Avijit Sir for Nobel Prize.

[@TH-et3de]

What a fine scholar!

[@felixcampovallenatologo6075]

excelente investigacion sobre como iniciar a erradicar la pobreza

[@SingerKeyaa]

Congratulations madam 🙏🇮🇳🙏

[@SingerKeyaa]

Loved it 😍

[@SKD1947]

both husband and wife are awesome

[@CD-123]

Yeah

[@SirusDas]

Job well done! A Nobel well deserved!!!

[@charanregon7916]

Many schemes and policy of similar model are already implemented. It's only debate in the air for now. Ground reality of the policy may be not at the best but benefited . Just like she said it is working on medivel period pace.

[@RupaliChaudhry]

Well Done #Estherduflo! Congratulations for winning the #Nobelprize!

[@sebastians528]

Inspiring!

[@libelulaocre500]

She's incredible!

[@alexjwebabou]

general market strategies work everywhere

[@sh0001]

The problem is that the results of the RCTs are highly localised and controlled. So, what’s true in one place need not hold good elsewhere or in the same place when some variables change.

[@qentrepreneurship9987]

Congratulations Prof Duflo😎

[@funnyguise]

why would school uniforms even enter the education equation? as far as health goes, yes, nets for malaria, but, sanitation for other common diseases and permaculture for nutrition. I'm still disappointed TED hasn't had any speakers on permaculture. I requested it 6 months ago.

[@kalpanaram1981]

Yes she back in 9 years and did it by winning Noble Prize and working on her vision 👏👏👏

[@kathyohallaran865]

Yeaaaaaa n eradicated global poverty yeaaaaaa

[@fauxman]

love the accent

[@rational0]

Yes the accent is good, she is pretty, rest is all rubbish.

[@justinewhitfield]

I feel like the idea that the gov'ts would be involved is intrinsic. Who else would implement these programs? IGOs and NGOs.

[@xtreem0302]

Amazing and so smart... :)

[@zhuoyangye8525]

Congrats to Dr. Duflo and her husband ;))

[@crudhousefull]

This is probably the most groundbreaking TED presentation on poverty alleviation I've seen. If she also put in the idea that African governments should be involved from step one it might have been better.

[@blueelectricsmoke]

it's weird to realize that field experiments with RCTs only started to become economic notions back in the 80s, and even then they didn't have much traction

[@zahidabdulmajeed1482]

And here is the traction

[@mohammedibrahimuddin5871]

Hearty congratulations on winning the Nobel prize. Fully deserve it.

[@diegolinthon4576]

Amazing!!

[@samay4596]

I have been following the works of nobel laureates for quite some time now. Unlike the scientists the economists have not given solution to the problems of world much. They are excellent in speech giving though but not beyond that. The chinese economic model is the best in the world, has taken millions of people out of poverty yet how many of us know the so called "nobel winning economists" from China? Economy is one of those subjects where things on paper look and sound good but not in practical life.

[@dr.michaelr.alvers17]

Congartulations! Question for minute 8:40: why is it cheaper WITH incentives? Since the nurse can treat more children pre time?! Thx.

[@dr.michaelr.alvers17]

@Everybody Nobody Thx!

[@Entertainment-tg6gf]

Congratulations madam

[@uzulim9234]

that was fantastic

[@pa7957]

Felcitations Esther :))))

[@atulgupta2152]

Amazing

[@bob15479]

She should do a study on the impact of the nobel prize.

[@seifu8823]

What about poverty in Europe and America?

[@nischalofchrist]

Poverty in Europe and North America is nothing in comparison to poverty in Asia and Africa. Europe and America is where economic migrants flee to.

[@gulllars]

@Clausfarre Actually, research has shown preventing child mortality works as birth control. The theory applied to the data states that if a mother know her children is likely to grow up and have children of their own and then take care of her when she can't work anymore, she does not need to produce as many to be sure at least some will. Though i agree condoms are also a good cause, but one major obstacle there is religion which isn't that easy to overcome.