Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Esther Duflo's Social Experiments To Fight Global Poverty


After the Haiti outbreak, millions of people all over the world sent billions in donations to aid the victims. This was and still is a completely noble cause, as the disaster has been devastating.

However, is the world aware of the fact that 9 million children under the age of five die every year from preventable causes? That is equal to a Haiti earthquake every eight days.

It is true that many people do give to poverty reduction organizations. However, as Esther Duflo states, not with the same intensity. In the above Ted Talk, Duflo explains why this happens in a very concrete, convincing and scientific way.

Duflo also shows how aid can work and has worked to change lives. We can't necessarily eradicate poverty now, but it is possible to know what development tactics work and do not. By enacting policies that promote development efforts that do work, in time we can make a serious dent in global poverty.

-Gabrielle Gurian

SOURCE: TED TALKS