Cal Alumni Club of Washington, D.C.

PLEASE JOIN THE CAL ALUMNI CLUB OF WASHINGTON, D.C. FOR 

"Why Are There So Many Poor People in this World?
a talk given by 

Shanta Devarajan, Ph.D. '81

Senior Director, Development Economics and Acting Chief Economist, World Bank

Tuesday, June 26th at 6:30 p.m.

UCDC, 1608 Rhode Island Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20036

Dr. Shanta Devarajan has explored this topic for much of his career. He studied mathematics at Princeton and economics at Berkeley, has taught at Harvard's Kennedy School, and worked at the World Bank. Through this journey, he has gained insight into the question of why, despite technological advances, economic growth, and billions of dollars of aid, about 800 million people still live on less than $1.90 a day.

The reason? Well-intentioned public policies, often aimed at helping poor people, have backfired. In Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, these policies are controlled by politically powerful groups who then resist efforts at pro-poor reforms. What can be done? One solution is to inform poor people, so they can use this knowledge to hold politicians accountable and thereby escape poverty.

Dr. Devarajan is the Senior Director for Development Economics and Acting Chief Economist of the World Bank. Since joining the World Bank in 1991, he has been a Principal Economist, Research Manager, and the Chief Economist for Human Development, and of the South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa Regions. He was the director of the World Development Report 2004, Making Services Work for Poor People. Before 1991, he was on the faculty of Harvard Kennedy School. Born in Sri Lanka, Shanta received his A.B. in Mathematics from Princeton University and his Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley.

We hope to see you there!