Abstract
The 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – often referred as the ‘Nobel Prize in Economics’ – was awarded jointly to Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of MIT and Michael Kremer of Harvard University ‘for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty’.
Invested in researching how to alleviate global poverty and its influence on education and health these three Laureates currently see the change to explore with their project the link between the work of epidemiologists and economists and adapt their research and project in developing countries to the current circumstances.
In this respect the idea of the Universal Ultra Base Income (UUBI) is discussed and the positive impact it may have in times of crises such as now. The three Laureates debate how the UUBI may help to stop or decelerate the spreading of COVID-19 in certain areas. Banerjee, Duflo and Kremer also discuss how a UUBI would influence different developing countries and the difference in their infrastructure which makes it harder or easier to distribute a possible UUBI in the rural areas.
Discover how these ideas can be translated from the current COVID-19 pandemic to other crises such as failing crops, locust pests or climate change in general.
Participating Laureates:
- Abhijit Banerjee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics, USA
- Esther Duflo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics, USA
- Michel R. Kremer, Harvard University, Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, USA
Moderator: Romesh Vaitilingam, Media Consultant, Pira Consulting, United Kingdom
