Esther Duflo

The world’s poorest people are on the front lines of climate change – yet they’re often an afterthought in climate policy. Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo joins Climate Curious co-host Ben Hurst to unpack why climate resilience begins with those who have contributed least to climate change, and what a more effective approach looks like. Drawing on decades of research and her work at the The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), Esther argues for climate resilience solutions rooted in evidence Recorded live at TED Countdown 2025. Tickets for Climate Curious LIVE, 11th February 2025, ‘Climate OGs: The history & future of climate progress: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/climate-curious-live-tickets-1978623502158 What do you want next on Climate Curious? Fill out our quick listener feedback survey: https://tedxlondon.typeform.com/climatecurious ​​ Join the Climate Curious conversation on socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/climatecuriouspod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@climatecuriouspod YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtF6xzNkVIczlDmVcH8FCMA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10996041/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxLondon Website: https://tedxlondon.com/podcast/ All other links: https://linktr.ee/climatecuriouspod Created by TEDxLondon Executive produced by Josie Colter Produced by Ben Beheshty Curated by Deesha Chandra Hosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst Communications by Tara Cooper and Issey Gladston Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The poorest people in the world contribute exactly nothing to climate change,” says Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo. For decades, she has worked to tackle the so-called “wicked problem” of poverty. In this conversation with Climate Curious co-host Ben Hurst, Esther connects the dots between poverty and climate change. Esther shares how she’s removing the capital “P” in poverty, instead focussing on actionable and effective solutions for adapting to changing environments, through her work with the Poverty Action Lab. Recorded live at TED Countdown 2025. Join the Climate Curious conversation on socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/climatecuriouspod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@climatecuriouspod YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtF6xzNkVIczlDmVcH8FCMA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10996041/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxLondon Website: https://tedxlondon.com/podcast/ All other links: https://linktr.ee/climatecuriouspod Created by TEDxLondon Executive produced by Josie Colter Produced by Ben Beheshty Curated by Deesha Chandra Hosted by Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst Communications by Tara Cooper and Issey Gladston Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we meet professor and Nobel laureate Esther Duflo and her colleague Dr. Sara Ellison for a discussion about economics: what it is, how it differs from sociology, how it incorporates classic intellectual tools like probability and statistics with newer technologies like machine learning, and how it can itself be a tool for improving the world by solving problems of inequity one problem at a time. As Duflo and Ellison explain, economics has shifted in recent decades from a primarily solo endeavor to an intensely collaborative one, in which any given paper is likely to have multiple co-authors but also to be based on the work of an even larger group of people—not only professional economists but also psychologists, teachers, NGO workers, and so on. (Fittingly, Duflo’s and Ellison’s teaching is collaborative as well; they work together as co-instructors on the course 14.310x Data Analysis for Social Scientists, available on both MITx Online and MIT OpenCourseWare.) Other topics covered in the episode include why online shopping isn’t as cheap as it seems like it should be and why you should disable some of your spreadsheet’s default settings. Relevant Resources: MIT OpenCourseWare The OCW Educator Portal Professor Duflo’s faculty page Dr. Ellison’s faculty page 14.310x Data Analysis for Social Scientists on MIT OpenCourseWare 14.310x Data Analysis for Social Scientists on MITx Online MITx MicroMasters Program in Statistics and Data Science Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions Connect with Us If you have a suggestion for a new episode or have used OCW to change your life or those of others, tell us your story. We’d love to hear from you! Call us @ 617-715-2517 On our site On Facebook On X On Instagram On LinkedIn Stay Current Subscribe to the free monthly "MIT OpenCourseWare Update" e-newsletter. Support OCW If you like Chalk Radio and OpenCourseware, donate to help keep these programs going! Credits Sarah Hansen , host and producer Brett Paci , producer Dave Lishansky , producer Jackson Maher, producer Show notes by Peter Chipman

Two dollars (about 1.85 euros) per day to cover all needs. This is the benchmark set by the World Bank to define extreme poverty, already accounting for differences in purchasing power among different countries around the globe. Esther Duflo, awarded with the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2019 for her work on alleviating extreme poverty, provides insights on how to address inequalities. The author advocates for «practical solutions», arguing that "it is much easier to think about the effect of something than its cause" and reveals how small measures can have a significant impact. The economist advocates a methodology based on a "plumber mentality." With this strategy, she demonstrates how important it is to experiment various solutions until arriving at one that solves the problem. In this interview, the Nobel laureate in Economics explains how small changes in access to healthcare and education have long-term implications for the lives of the poorest. Using the example of deworming children in Kenya, she demonstrates how this measure has led to health improvements but also contributed to a reduction in school absenteeism, providing students with better learning outcomes. Throughout the conversation, Esther Duflo also emphasizes the contribution of immigration to the economies of countries, explaining that the workforce and youth of immigrants contribute to the development of nations rather than impoverishing them. In the fight against poverty, climate change is fueling new inequalities: the wealthiest countries are the major polluters, but it is the poorest who are suffering the most intense consequences of the climate crisis. Duflo thus calls for a global approach to this problem. For further info: Nobel Prize ; Prize Lecture: Esther Duflo, Prize in Economic Sciences 2019 ; HEC TALKS with Esther Duflo: Good Economics for Warmer Times ; Ted Talk “ Experimentos sociais para combater a pobreza ”; MIT Esther Duflo, Randomized Controlled Trials and Policy Making in Developing Countries ; A Podcast of One's Own with Julia Gillard - Nobel Prize winner Esther Duflo on economics as a lever of action for the world ; Ted Talk " Taken for Granted: Esther Duflo wants you to think like a plumber "; The Guardian article ; El Pais Brasil interview

Why would someone buy a television when they don’t have enough money for food? And why do students from poor backgrounds seem to struggle in school? By asking deceivingly simple questions like these about the choices that poor people make, Esther Duflo found some surprising answers that have revolutionised the field of development economics. Hear from the youngest ever co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in this interview. This episode of In Conversation was first broadcast on 13th July 2022. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Esther Duflo Collège de France Pauvreté et politiques publiques 2022-2023 Leçon inaugurale - Esther Duflo : Expérience, science et lutte contre la pauvreté (presque) quinze ans après Les trente dernières années présentent un paradoxe étonnant : alors que les plus riches ont vu leurs fortunes se multiplier et leur part dans la distribution des revenus mondiaux devenir de plus en plus écrasante, les plus pauvres du monde, eux aussi, ont connu une période de progrès remarquable. Le nombre de personnes vivant dans une pauvreté extrême a été divisé par deux ; les mortalités infantile et maternelle ont également été divisées par deux ; presque tous les enfants du monde vont aujourd'hui à l'école ; des maladies comme le paludisme, ou VIH-SIDA, sont bien mieux maîtrisées. Ces avancées ne sont pas le fait de quelques pays exceptionnels ou d'une générosité inhabituelle des pays riches, mais de politiques plus raisonnées et plus efficaces dans de nombreuses parties du globe. Mais cette évolution positive est menacée aujourd'hui : la réduction de la pauvreté s'est ralentie depuis plusieurs années ; la crise du Covid, suivie par les sursauts du commerce international, a replongé de nombreux individus dans des pièges de pauvreté dont ils croyaient s'être échappés ; la pollution et les maladies non communicables, la détresse mentale sont autant de nouveaux risques pour la santé ; et plus que tout, les conséquences du réchauffement de la planète, qui vont frapper de manière disproportionnée les pays les plus pauvres, menacent d'effacer la plupart des gains que nous pensions acquis. Quelles leçons tirer des succès (et des échecs, également) des dernières décennies pour affronter les problèmes qui confrontent les plus pauvres aujourd'hui ? Comment combiner réalisme et volontarisme pour trouver une issue à des problèmes qui pourraient paraître insolubles, mais que nous ne pouvons pas nous permettre de ne pas résoudre ? Cette chaire va s'appuyer sur les avancées récentes de l'économie du développement et de la méthodologie de l'évaluation des politiques publiques pour répondre à ces questions et dessiner les contours d'une réponse possible aux défis planétaires qui nous font face.

Today's changing world faces continuous social, economic, and environmental challenges—from disease to natural disaster to war. The leaders stepping up to solve these issues possess deep ambition, vision, and skills to bring their ideas to life. In this episode, host Gautam Mukunda speaks with Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley and Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry and Esther Duflo, Ph.D., Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT and Nobel Prize Winner in Economic Sciences. Together, they discuss how great leaders can pioneer breakthroughs and effectively enact change—from discovery to implementation. Resources: Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo "There are so many things I kind of wish I had known early in my career, but the big ones for me are, first and foremost, that each person is an individual and has their own sets of passions, strengths, weaknesses, desires." – Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley "Try to avoid micromanaging people. You get much more done if you can trust someone to run with it." - Esther Duflo, Ph.D., Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT Follow @GMukunda on Twitter or email us at WorldReimagined@nasdaq.com For more information on this episode's guest please visit: Nasdaq.com/world-reimagined-podcast

Esther Duflo, Annual Review of Economics committee member, talks to journalist Anna Rascouët-Paz about her work in economics, particularly her work at the intersection of economics and social issues. This version of the interview was conducted in French.

Esther Duflo, Annual Review of Economics committee member, talks to journalist Anna Rascouët-Paz about her work in economics, particularly her work at the intersection of economics and social issues.

Esther Duflo, Annual Review of Economics committee member, talks to journalist Anna Rascouët-Paz about her work in economics, particularly her work at the intersection of economics and social issues. Visit Annual Reviews online at www.annualreviews.org.