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MuhammadRaees
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Many of the issues plaguing the world right now are particularly salient in the rich North, whereas we have spent our life studying poor people in poor countries. It was obvious that we would have to immerse ourselves in many new literatures, and there was always a chance that we will miss something. It took us a while to convince ourselves that it was even worth trying.
We eventually decided to take the plunge, partly because we got tired of watching at a distance while the public conversation about core economic issues immigration, trade, growth, inequality or the environment goes more and more off-kilter. But also because, as we thought about it, we realised that the problems facing the rich countries in the world were actually often eerily familiar to those used to studying the developing world people left behind by development, ballooning inequality, lack of faith in government, fractured societies and polity, and so on.
We learnt a lot in the process and it did give us faith in what we, as economists, have learnt best to do, which is to be hard headed about the facts, sceptical of slick answers and magic bullets, modest and honest about what we know and understand, and perhaps most importantly, willing to try ideas and solutions and be wrong, as long as it takes us towards the ultimate goal of building a more humane world.
A woman hears from her doctor that she has only half a year to live. The doctor advises her to marry an economist and move to South Dakota. Woman 'Will this cure my illness?'