The Challenges of Global Poverty
Consider issues posed by massive and persistent global poverty, and explore how economists can contribute to addressing this challenge.
Course Information
Certificate Track
Learn for Free
About this Course
This is a course for those who are interested in the challenges posed by massive and persistent world poverty, and are hopeful that economists might have something useful to say about this challenge. You will investigate critical questions around the current state of extreme poverty, the daily realities of living in such poverty, hunger, education for the poor, disease burden, the value of microfinance, the importance of property rights, the roles of markets and NGOs in economic development, the impact of foreign aid, and more.
At the end of this course, you should have a good sense of the key questions asked by scholars interested in poverty today, and hopefully a few answers as well.
The course is free to audit. Learners can take a proctored exam and earn a course certificate by paying a fee, which varies by ability to pay. Please see our FAQ articles for more information on the certificate and audit track features as well as more information on the pricing structure. Enroll in this course by selecting the "enroll now" button at the top of the page.
This course can be completed by itself or as part of the MITx MicroMasters program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP), which provides a path toward the master’s in DEDP at MIT.
What you'll learn
The course will investigate the following topics:
- Poverty traps and the role of experimentation
- Food and nutrition
- Health care in developing countries
- Education
- Family roles, fertility decisions, and gender discrimination
- Risk and insurance
- Credit, lending, and microfinance
- Saving
- Entrepreneurship
- Institutions and politics
Access the full syllabus here.
How you'll learn
Real-World LearningLearn from MIT faculty and experts who ground their teaching in real-world cases rather than mathematical models, making the material approachable for all.
Practical ApplicationApply your new knowledge with hands-on, practical exercises drawn from healthcare, sports, finance, sustainability, and more.
Prerequisites
Previous exposure to economics and some familiarity with statistics will be helpful but not critical to understanding the material and learning from the course. Various resources will be available throughout the course for students to learn or refresh on the most important topics.
Course Readiness Check:
This is an introductory course that does not require a readiness check.
Meet your instructors
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee
Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics
Abhijit Banerjee is the winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He was educated at the University of Calcutta, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Harvard University. He is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at MIT. Banerjee is a past president of the Bureau for Research in the Economic Analysis of Development, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society, and has been a Guggenheim Fellow and an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He is the recipient of many awards, including the inaugural Infosys Prize in 2009, and has been an honorary advisor to many organizations including the World Bank and the government of India.
