This urge to reduce the poor to a set of clichés has been with us for as long as there has been poverty: The poor appear, in social theory as much as in literature, by turns lazy or enterprising, noble or thievish, angry or passive, helpless or self-sufficient. It is no surprise that the policy stances that correspond to these views of the poor also tend to be captured in simple formulas: “Free markets for the poor,” “Make human rights substantial,” “Deal with conflict first,” “Give more money to the poorest,” “Foreign aid kills development,” and the like. These ideas all have important elements of truth, but they rarely have much space for average poor women or men, with their hopes and doubts, limitations and aspirations, beliefs and confusion.
Introducing this book titled “Poor Economics”, which is a detailed read and study about the environment and motivations of poor people. To start off, most of us tend to think in very simple terms about poor people. These thoughts are usually driven by our internal ideologies. And so we tend to think in binary terms. “They did not work hard enough”, “They are lazy” or the other extreme “They just need 1-off cash transfer and all their problems will be solved”.
This books covers the complexities and showcases the nuances in determining the right policies. Whats important is to note that there are a confluence of factors that affect each and every one, and that solutions that deal with 1 person or community cannot necessarily be generalized all the time, despite our desire to do so.
