Video of my farewell public lecture at the World Bank on ‘Policy for the People.’ Honored to have Deon Filmer chair, with insightful discussant comments from Nandini Krishnan & Robin Mearns. Grateful for all the warmth. youtu.be/_UzbwmOL80o

After 25 years at the World Bank’s Development Research Group, I’ll give my farewell talk — Policy for the People — on Nov 18 at 12:30 PM ET. Honored to be joined by Nandini Krishnan, Robin Mearns & Deon Filmer. 🎥 worldbank.org/en/events/2025/11/18/policy-for-the-people

Some news: After 26 years in the World Bank’s Development Research Group, I have decided that it’s time for me to move on.

This year's #ABCDE2025, themed “Development in the Age of Populism,” sparked discussions on trade and geopolitics, poverty reduction, & more. Following the conference, @eeshani.bsky.social shares what we learned—and didn’t—about populism & poverty in LMICs: www.cgdev.org/blog/populis...

My cousin Rama Ranee changed my life—introducing me to yoga, meditation, and fieldwork in rural India. For 35 years, she’s transformed a barren patch near Bangalore into a biodiverse, biodynamic sanctuary. This stunning film by Good Food Movement captures her journey. youtu.be/W1XA-KOgKoA?...

Why do people feel worse even as their countries grow richer? In an age of populism, we need to ask what policy misses when it focuses solely on growth. A thread on our paper: Is There an Underside to Economic Growth? 👇 📄 documents.worldbank.org/en/publicati...

Development folks (usually of a particular vintage) who are prone to making Denmark comparisons - note that you can fit six Denmarks in Delhi, five in Jakarta, four in Cairo….

“Using Large Language Models for Qualitative Analysis can Introduce Serious Bias”, paper with Julian Ashwin and Aditya Chhabra published in Sociological Methods and Research journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Instead of “nudging” people to get them to do what YOU think is good for them, “boost” their agency so that they are better able to think and act for themselves. Wonderful paper from Behavioral Public Policy that encapsulates what many of us have been thinking. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

My essay is on VKRV Rao, who developed the first set of national income estimates for a poor country, founded the Delhi School of Economics, and laid the intellectual foundations of IDA, the concessional funding arm of the World Bank azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/indian-econo...

Indian economists have been central to development thinking from the early 19th century. This amazing collection of biographical essays on distinguished Indian economists of the past is really worth reading azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/distinguishe...

This is Pt Mallikarjun Mansur singing the beautiful and uncommon raga - Yamani Bilawal which is a combination of ragas Yaman and Bilawal youtu.be/JUXfF8iEDOQ?.... The bandish is Ale Re, Kituve Gaye Loguva.

Thinking of posting Indian classical music videos here like I do on Twitter. Is there any interest in this?

Michael Woolcock and I have written a (very) short paper on “Ten Consequential and Actionable ‘Social’ Contributions to the Theory, Practice, and Evaluation of Development” largely drawing on our own work over the last 20 years. Comments welcome documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/0...

James Ferguson helped me understand how The World Bank works. His The Anti-Politics Machine is a must-read for anyone in development. RIP 🙏🏾https://stanforddaily.com/2025/02/19/james-ferguson-professor-of-anthropology-and-former-department-chair-dies-at-65/

Is there an underside to Economic growth? In this paper we study the case of Malaysia which was one of the stars of the “East Asian Miracle”, combining high growth rates with sharp reductions in poverty and inequality. documents.worldbank.org/en/publicati...

Really appreciate this thoughtful deep dive into my paper “Can Economics Become More Reflexive” by the polymaths and podcasters Amit Varma and Ajay Shah in their acclaimed videocast series Everything is Everything. Paper is here: documents.worldbank.org/en/publicati... youtu.be/STCkMMvVxuQ?...

In a new paper, "Is there an Underside to Economic Growth? A Mixed-Method Analysis of Malaysia" we show why people may be unhappy with the economy despite great macro and micro trends. Quantitative data hides realities that qualitative interviews can reveal. documents.worldbank.org/en/publicati...

New CGD blog alert! The global extreme poverty line is on its last legs. But the problem is there is no really good alternative to it. www.cgdev.org/blog/global-...

Calling early-career researchers: Applications are now OPEN for CIFAR Azirieli Global Scholars, a unique opportunity to transform your research and accelerate your career. Join us in the Boundaries, Membership & Belonging Program cifar.ca/research-pro... Apply by Nov. 20 cifar.ca/next-generat...

Had the absolute pleasure of engaging in a four hour conversation with Amit Varma for his Seen and Unseen podcast where we did a deep dive into my work and my life. Amit is such a good interviewer that he even got me to sing a bit. seenunseen.in/episodes/202...

Terrible ideas that have come back because the generation that suffered their downside has passed on: Price Controls, Structural Adjustment, Dictatorship, Genocide.

Interesting Large-N qualitative study on the aesthetics of experimental practice. Suggests that a critical ethnography of the processes by which experiments and RCTs in Economics/Poli Sci/Public Health are conducted would generate some valuable insights www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Does democracy work? How does it compare to rule by unelected bureaucrats? For some answers to this hard to analyze question see our working paper on "The Added Value of Local Democracy: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India," documents.worldbank.org/en/publicati...

"Using Large Language Models (LLMs) for Qualitative Analysis Can Introduce Serious Bias," World Bank working paper with JulianAshwin & AdityaKChhabra documents.worldbank.org/en/publicati... This extends our work on Large-N Qual Analysis blogs.worldbank.org/impactevalua... o

Crazy that Habermas - who is now more an invocation than a person - has just published another book at the age of 94 revisiting his idea of the public sphere in the age of social media www.wiley.com/en-us/A+New+...

Video of the talk given by the sociologist Michele Lamont on her book “Seeing Others” at the World Bank which is about the centrally important topic about how to build a more empathetic, less divided world. Michael Woolcock and I were the discussants. www.worldbank.org/en/news/vide...

Pandit Mallikarjun Mansur sings a Durga Stuti - Devi Durge - composed by Ustad Alladiya Khansaheb in the morning raga Sukhiya Bilawal - a blend of ragas Sawani and Bilawal. Pt Rajshekhar Mansur provides beautiful vocal accompaniment youtu.be/Sn22MLBjMmQ?...

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