‘If we want to remove extreme poverty... we must match it with financing’

In an interview, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo spoke about the welfare debate, working with the government on policy and the state of the global economy

Twenty years ago, Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo set up The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, or J-PAL, credited with significant interventions across countries in development, economic policy and academic research. In an exclusive interview, Banerjee (AB) and Duflo (ED) spoke to HT about the welfare debate, working with the government on policy and the state of the global economy. Edited excerpts:

Economists Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. (AFP)

How do you look back at the 20-year journey at J-PAL? More than four years