JosefScarantino.com » Books

Next book on my list: “Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty”

Josef Scarantino — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:13:23 +0000

Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty

“For more than fifteen years Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo have worked with the poor in dozens of countries spanning five continents, trying to understand the specific problems that come with poverty and to find proven solutions. Their book is radical in its rethinking of the economics of poverty, but also entirely practical in the suggestions it offers. Through a careful analysis of a very rich body of evidence, including the hundreds of randomized control trials that Banerjee and Duflo’s lab has pioneered, they show why the poor, despite having the same desires and abilities as anyone else, end up with entirely different lives.

Through their work, Banerjee and Duflo look at some of the most surprising facets of poverty: why the poor need to borrow in order to save, why they miss out on free life-saving immunizations but pay for drugs that they do not need, why they start many businesses but do not grow any of them, and many other puzzling facts about living with less than 99 cents per day.

POOR ECONOMICS argues that so much of anti-poverty policy has failed over the years because of an inadequate understanding of poverty. The battle against poverty can be won, but it will take patience, careful thinking and a willingness to learn from evidence. Banerjee and Duflo are practical visionaries whose meticulous workoffers transformative potential for poor people anywhere, and is a vital guide to policy makers, philanthropists, activists and anyone else who cares about building a world without poverty.”

I bought this book on a whim on one of my recent book binges. I hadn’t heard anything about this book prior to buying it, but was pleasantly surprised (and excited) when I found the book’s excellent website, among some great economics and development bloggers I follow who recommend the book. It is even used as required reading in many university-level development courses.

The book was also recently awarded the Best Business Book of the Year prize by the Financial Times (FT) and Goldman Sachs.

I have high expectations for the book after reading about it and I highly recommend you pick up a copy for your own economics/development collection. Those who recommend it say it is not heavy reading, so go buy it and dive in!

Disclaimer: I linked to Amazon.com for those money-conscious readers buying the book online, but I highly recommend supporting your local brick-and-mortar bookseller by buying it there instead.

NEED Magazine, the photography publication for humanitarians, needs your help

Josef Scarantino — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:15:13 +0000

NEED Magazine, whose slogan is “We are not out to save the world but to tell the stories of those who are,” has a need of its own. The beautiful Minneapolis-based magazine, which features stunning humanitarian photography alongside profiled NGO’s, has been in publication since 2006 and is working hard to stay afloat amidst the struggling economy.

As noted in the Star-Tribune less than three weeks ago, the magazine is in need of support if it is going to survive the turmoil the magazine industry is going through. The founders, Kelly and Stephanie Kinnunen, have given up nearly everything of their own from day one to make this publication a possibility and the next issue of NEED is at stake.

I have been a subscriber to NEED Magazine for about one year and can testify to the beauty in the photography and stories of what NGO’s are doing throughout the world. I encourage you to show your support by subscribing to NEED Magazine and connecting to them on one of the social networks below.

If you are going to subscribe to one magazine this year for you or someone as a gift, make it NEED Magazine.

Find NEED Magazine on:

Debut of “5 Noteworthy Links”

Josef Scarantino — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:37:13 +0000

I subscribe to a massive amount of RSS feeds in my Google Reader to keep me up-to-date with the Internet’s pulse. As many people can’t live without their morning coffee, I honestly don’t know what I would do without my daily dose of Google Reader. While it would take me eons to visit all of these sites I follow, Google Reader brings all of them to me and increases my research productivity. I highly recommend it if you are new to RSS.

Every day I come across valuable links in my RSS subscriptions that I want to share with you. Consider this post my “5 Noteworthy Links” debut. I will bring these kind of links to you regularly. Let me know if they benefit you.

Planning my first trip to South America

Josef Scarantino — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:32:29 +0000

On a whim I decided it’s time to travel to a place that typical isn’t on my (growing) top 10 international list. So I’ve been planning for a short trip to Peru in June, which will cover Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu, three absolutely stunning places. I’m thrilled about this trip for the chance to visit a culture almost completely foreign to me. (I’ve never been to South or Central America, although I have been to Mexico.)

After reading some reviews, I bought a slew of books listed below. If you have any recommendations for the trip, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.