Renowned French economist to join Obama’s team

[CuteOldGuy]

Really? We have to go to France to find an economist to help guide Obama on policy? Like the French have done such a good job on their economy. What the hell is Obama thinking. Oh, wait. I'm not sure I want to know.

Here's the article:

France’s Esther Duflo, a star economist who was once named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, has been nominated by US President Barack Obama to help shape US global development policy.

France’s Esther Duflo, a world renowned economist, has been nominated by US President Barack Obama to join a government body dedicated to advising the administration on global development policy.

Called the Global Development Council, the group was founded by Obama in 2010 to help shape US development efforts abroad.

While Duflo’s nomination will likely be viewed with a sense of pride in France, it comes as Obama’s leadership continues to be dogged by unflattering comparisons in the media to European-style socialism. Just Friday, the cover of financial news magazine The Economist depicted Obama wearing a beret, red neckerchief and a striped mariner shirt, under a headline that read “America turns European”. The article criticised the country’s recent fiscal-cliff deal as “lousy”, saying its mismanagement bore striking similarities to the “mess in the euro zone”.

Duflo, who was raised in a “left-leaning Protestant” family, said she became aware of economic divides and social injustice at a very early age.

“I was always conscientious of the gap between my existence and that of the world’s poor,” she told weekly French magazine l’Express in a January, 2011 article. “As a child, I was extremely troubled by the complete randomness of chance that I was born in Paris to an intellectual, middle class family, when I could have just as easily been born in Chad. It’s a question of luck. It inspired in me a sense of responsibility.”

While Duflo may feel that her privilege in life is the result of chance, President Obama’s intention to appoint her to his Global Development Council is not. Ever since completing her undergraduate studies at Paris’s prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1994, Duflo has led a distinguished career, collecting numerous academic honours and awards along the way.

One of the world’s 100 most influential people

It is by no means an exaggeration to call the now 40 year-old Duflo one of the world’s star economists. French daily Le Monde once awarded her its “Best French Young Economist Prize”, and in 2009, she was granted a MacArthur Fellowship (which has also been dubbed ‘the genius grant’). Duflo’s work also earned her the John Bates Clark medal in 2010, which is considered second only to the Nobel.

The following year, Time magazine named Duflo one of 100 most influential people in the world. The magazine applauded her for relentlessly “questioning conventional wisdom”.

“She has broken out of the ivory tower to do something economists rarely do: gather real data to see what really works in alleviating poverty,” Time wrote.

A closer look at poverty

Duflo’s research has largely focused on microeconomic issues in developing countries and looks at areas such as education, access to finance as well as health and policy evaluation. As co-founder and director of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Duflo has singled herself out by championing the idea that it is impossible to successfully tackle the issue of poverty without a thorough understanding of the population at hand. In other words, the devil is in the detail.

While Duflo’s work has already helped contribute to changing the way governments and organisations deal with global poverty, her potential new role as a member of the Global Development Council will allow her to have a direct impact on how the US handles such issues.

I'm not convinced. Just another lurch left by the Obama Administration. God help us the next 4 years.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130105-...ma-team-policy

[Chica Chaser]

Yeah, France is such a model of fiscal discipline.
I can't imagine that looks good on a resume. In fact, her resume looks pretty thin on any real world business experience, just a lot of awards and academic honors

Duflo completed her undergraduate studies at L'Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1994, received a master's degree from DELTA in Paris in 1995, and completed a PhD in Economics at MIT in 1999. Upon completing her MIT PhD she was appointed assistant professor of economics at MIT, and has been at MIT ever since, aside from being on leave to Princeton University in 2001-2002.
Duflo has received numerous academic honors and prizes including the David N. Kershaw Award (2011), the CNRS Médaille de L’Innovation (2011), the John Bates Clark Medal (2010), a MacArthur Fellowship (2009), the inaugural Calvó-Armengol International Prize (2009), the "Best French Young Economist Prize" (Le Monde/Cercle des économistes, 2005) and the American Economic Association's Elaine Bennett Prize for Research (2003). In 2008-2009 she was the inaugural holder of the international chair "Knowledge Against Poverty" at the Collège de France.
With Professor Abhijit Banerjee, Duflo is the co-author of “Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty”, which won Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2011. Duflo currently serves as the founding editor of the AEJ: Applied Economics. http://economics.mit.edu/faculty/eduflo/short

[i'va biggen]

Is one of the 100 best in the world and feels compassion for the poor.Yep she is a piece of shit.

[EXTXOILMAN]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Really? We have to go to France to find an economist to help guide Obama on policy? Like the French have done such a good job on their economy. What the hell is Obama thinking. Oh, wait. I'm not sure I want to know.

Here's the article:

France’s Esther Duflo, a star economist who was once named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, has been nominated by US President Barack Obama to help shape US global development policy.

France’s Esther Duflo, a world renowned economist, has been nominated by US President Barack Obama to join a government body dedicated to advising the administration on global development policy.

Called the Global Development Council, the group was founded by Obama in 2010 to help shape US development efforts abroad.

While Duflo’s nomination will likely be viewed with a sense of pride in France, it comes as Obama’s leadership continues to be dogged by unflattering comparisons in the media to European-style socialism. Just Friday, the cover of financial news magazine The Economist depicted Obama wearing a beret, red neckerchief and a striped mariner shirt, under a headline that read “America turns European”. The article criticised the country’s recent fiscal-cliff deal as “lousy”, saying its mismanagement bore striking similarities to the “mess in the euro zone”.

Duflo, who was raised in a “left-leaning Protestant” family, said she became aware of economic divides and social injustice at a very early age.

“I was always conscientious of the gap between my existence and that of the world’s poor,” she told weekly French magazine l’Express in a January, 2011 article. “As a child, I was extremely troubled by the complete randomness of chance that I was born in Paris to an intellectual, middle class family, when I could have just as easily been born in Chad. It’s a question of luck. It inspired in me a sense of responsibility.”

While Duflo may feel that her privilege in life is the result of chance, President Obama’s intention to appoint her to his Global Development Council is not. Ever since completing her undergraduate studies at Paris’s prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1994, Duflo has led a distinguished career, collecting numerous academic honours and awards along the way.

One of the world’s 100 most influential people

It is by no means an exaggeration to call the now 40 year-old Duflo one of the world’s star economists. French daily Le Monde once awarded her its “Best French Young Economist Prize”, and in 2009, she was granted a MacArthur Fellowship (which has also been dubbed ‘the genius grant’). Duflo’s work also earned her the John Bates Clark medal in 2010, which is considered second only to the Nobel.

The following year, Time magazine named Duflo one of 100 most influential people in the world. The magazine applauded her for relentlessly “questioning conventional wisdom”.

“She has broken out of the ivory tower to do something economists rarely do: gather real data to see what really works in alleviating poverty,” Time wrote.

A closer look at poverty

Duflo’s research has largely focused on microeconomic issues in developing countries and looks at areas such as education, access to finance as well as health and policy evaluation. As co-founder and director of MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Duflo has singled herself out by championing the idea that it is impossible to successfully tackle the issue of poverty without a thorough understanding of the population at hand. In other words, the devil is in the detail.

While Duflo’s work has already helped contribute to changing the way governments and organisations deal with global poverty, her potential new role as a member of the Global Development Council will allow her to have a direct impact on how the US handles such issues.

I'm not convinced. Just another lurch left by the Obama Administration. God help us the next 4 years.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130105-...ma-team-policy

Wonder if she supported the 75% income tax proposal that was just slapped down by the French Supreme Court...to the amazement of many.

[Seedy]

Originally Posted by i'va biggen

Is one of the 100 best in the world and feels compassion for the poor.Yep she is a piece of shit.

You are correctamundo.......lol

[Jackie S]

Originally Posted by seedman55

You are correctamundo.......lol

+1

[essence]

She has lived in America for many years, looking to get citizenship.

She has been a professor at MIT for some time. Got tenureship very young.

Her views on poverty seem sensible. Not possible to summarise, but she has examples where ignorance is an issue - the poor do not always know what is best for them. Any of use who have dated poor strippers will relate to that. Another example - the poor value something more when it is not free - this will strike a chord with many right wingers here, and we can easily see the truth in that.

I am grateful for the OP for bringing her to my awareness.

Carry on - try to examine her views before dismissing, even if she is French (and appears to be somewhat over serious, which can be a French trait).

[essence]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

Really? We have to go to France to find an economist to help guide Obama on policy

No, she is already at MIT, has been for many years.

What do you think of her views?

What is the female equivalent of ad hominem (or is homus asexual, I can't remember).

AHA!

ad feminam

[i'va biggen]

Originally Posted by seedman55

You are correctamundo.......lol

Sarcasm alert.

[CuteOldGuy]

Originally Posted by essence

No, she is already at MIT, has been for many years.

What do you think of her views?

What is the female equivalent of ad hominem (or is homus asexual, I can't remember).

AHA!

ad feminam

I hate to ruin your day, Essence, but you may be right. I may have jumped the gun. After reading 10 or 20 Assup and BTLD posts, my IQ drops a little and I normally take a break (or go back to work) for awhile to regain my intelligence. They are very funny, but it does take its toll.

It appears that she may be a pretty good choice. She does not appear to follow the traditional rules of economics, and spends time trying to ascertain the reason for poverty in third world countries at the individual level. She studies what behavior changes should be encouraged to bring people out of poverty, rather than more government aid which encourages poverty.

That's just a first glance. Frankly, even though I used to teach university level economics, she is far beyond what I ever was.

So I will retract my criticism, for now. And if she turns out to be a good choice, I will congratulate Obama for selecting her. After a longer second look at her career, he may have made an excellent choice for that position.

I hate to give you credit for anything, Essence, but thanks for making me take a second look at her. However, my overall opinion accuracy rate remains above 97%.

[essence]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

you may be right.

Incorrect. No 'may' about it.

I am always right.

[thks for showing u r human, yet again]

[CuteOldGuy]

You can't possibly be always right, Essence. I'm not married to you. The only person I know who is always right is my wife, even when she isn't.

[joe bloe]

Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy

I hate to ruin your day, Essence, but you may be right. I may have jumped the gun. After reading 10 or 20 Assup and BTLD posts, my IQ drops a little and I normally take a break (or go back to work) for awhile to regain my intelligence. They are very funny, but it does take its toll.

It appears that she may be a pretty good choice. She does not appear to follow the traditional rules of economics, and spends time trying to ascertain the reason for poverty in third world countries at the individual level. She studies what behavior changes should be encouraged to bring people out of poverty, rather than more government aid which encourages poverty.

That's just a first glance. Frankly, even though I used to teach university level economics, she is far beyond what I ever was.

So I will retract my criticism, for now. And if she turns out to be a good choice, I will congratulate Obama for selecting her. After a longer second look at her career, he may have made an excellent choice for that position.

I hate to give you credit for anything, Essence, but thanks for making me take a second look at her. However, my overall opinion accuracy rate remains above 97%.

Obama does something right every once in while just to keep us off balance.

After he's made ten thousand bad choices in a row, I think we can be forgiven if we assume he's made another bad choice. It is frightening to trust a French economist since France is pretty much the birth place of socialism. The fact that she's a tenured professor in American university is likely to reinforce any socialistic views she may have.

[Guest050715-1]

Originally Posted by essence

She has lived in America for many years, looking to get citizenship.

She has been a professor at MIT for some time. Got tenureship very young.

Her views on poverty seem sensible. Not possible to summarise, but she has examples where ignorance is an issue - the poor do not always know what is best for them. Any of use who have dated poor strippers will relate to that.

So are you saying the poor don't make good choices, are stupid, un-educated? What? You are aware that the largest demographic in poverty is women and children. Not ALL those women are strippers.

Originally Posted by essence

Another example - the poor value something more when it is not free - this will strike a chord with many right wingers here, and we can easily see the truth in that.

No one values what they don't pay for nearly as much as what they pay for.

I'm with Chica, her resume seems a bit light on practical knowledge. There's nothing wring with her being French or any other nationality for that matter Henry Kissinger seemed to handle his business well after all. But given the French climate and economic problems................

[Seedy]

Originally Posted by i'va biggen

Sarcasm alert.

Sarcasm, what sarcasm? I was dead fucking serious........lmfao