Esther Duflo

Date of Birth: October 25, 1972

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Biography

Esther Duflo is a distinguished French-American economist best known for her pioneering work in development economics. She was born in Paris, France, and has dedicated her career to understanding the economic lives of the poor, with the aim of improving the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs and policies. Duflo is a professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she also co-founded and co-directs the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Her research, often conducted in collaboration with her husband and fellow Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, employs randomized controlled trials to evaluate the impact of social policies. In 2019, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, along with Banerjee and Michael Kremer, for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.

5 Interesting Facts about Esther Duflo

1. Esther Duflo is the youngest person and the second woman to ever receive the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

2. She was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2011.

3. Duflo earned her Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 1999, focusing on the economic effects of education and health programs.

4. She has written several influential books, including “Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty,” which won the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2011.

5. Duflo’s research has been credited with significantly advancing the use of field experiments in economics, a methodology that has been adopted widely to study various social issues.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Esther Duflo

1. “The key to fixing poverty is understanding it.”

2. “Small changes can make a big difference.”

3. “People are not poor because they are lazy; they are poor because they lack opportunities.”

4. “Development is about transforming the lives of people, not just transforming economies.”

5. “Policy-making should be based on evidence, not ideology.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

Esther Duflo’s highest net worth achieved is estimated to be around $5 million. This estimate includes her earnings from her academic positions, book royalties, and various awards, including the Nobel Prize.