Abhijit Banerjee quotes

Abhijit Banerjee is an American economist, internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in development economics and poverty alleviation. His research combines innovative field experiments with economic theory to address global challenges. He is a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics for his contributions to fighting global poverty. Here are 43 of his quotes:

I was an Indian with zero sense of caste till I was 20. That's an unusual privilege but it came out of the fact that I was a middle-class Bengali.

Abhijit Banerjee

We value seriousness and willingness to solve problems.

Abhijit Banerjee

Healthcare expenses often wipe out families.

Abhijit Banerjee

When you compare individuals, rather than countries, you find that education improves both income and the quality of life.

Abhijit Banerjee

It is absolute poverty that you could end, but I think relative poverty is a whole other issue.

Abhijit Banerjee

My guess is that while the elites would like cleaner air, they are not willing to give up the convenience of being able to use their cars at will to get it, perhaps because they believe (I suspect incorrectly) that they can protect themselves from the consequences of vehicular pollution by investing in air-conditioners and air purifiers.

Abhijit Banerjee

Anyone who has a child knows the importance of not over-playing your hand. He was up all night playing some game on his smartphone and you feel like saying that if it happens again the phone is gone. Forever. Till he is old enough to buy his own. Till then he can have your old Nokia.

Abhijit Banerjee

Whenever we try something new, mistakes will happen. Seemingly good ideas will fail and need to be re-thought.

Abhijit Banerjee

I will confess that in general decisiveness worries me; it is often an excuse for being impatient with the details or insufficiently sensitive to other people's concerns.

Abhijit Banerjee

Most farmers know that their children's future will probably not be in agriculture, but they have a hard time imagining a different life.

Abhijit Banerjee

Our democratic culture does not prioritise protecting an individual's right to live life her way, especially if that is not our way or the way of the community.

Abhijit Banerjee

In my own work, I have written about how our public sector bank officials avoid making any new lending decisions - because lending always exposes them to some (infinitesimal) risk of being blamed for the loan going wrong.

Abhijit Banerjee

Milk production is one of India's great success stories.

Abhijit Banerjee

It is undeniable that the looming environmental crisis is partly the consequence of population growth.

Abhijit Banerjee

You have to take it seriously that the economy is in crisis.

Abhijit Banerjee

Will we make all poverty history? No. But can we solve some of these extreme and egregious forms of poverty? I think yes, and we should.

Abhijit Banerjee

Partly, identity politics is a result of economic failure.

Abhijit Banerjee

People who live inside garbage piles - that should not be happening.

Abhijit Banerjee

Students often say things that they will one day change their minds about, but also things that change our minds when we think about them.

Abhijit Banerjee

Franklin Delano Roosevelt eventually became the greatest liberal leader of 20th century United States, but he started as a fiscal conservative. His greatness is founded in his willingness to change his mind to save his country from the Great Depression.

Abhijit Banerjee

Corruption is a huge problem and the poor and the powerless are often its most egregious victims. But it is not an accident that the most effective bureaucracies in the world rely much more on internal controls rather than on independent ombudsmen.

Abhijit Banerjee

Independence day is an interesting time to reflect on our strange fealty to institutions that the British left us, including those that were explicitly set up to be used against us.

Abhijit Banerjee