Product Description

Hailed on its initial publication as a work with immediate implications for countless lives, Dreze & Sen's The Political Economy of Hunger is the classic analysis of an extraordinary paradox: in a world of food surpluses and diseases of overeating, hunger kills millions more people each year than wars or political repression. Now this abridged version puts the most essential and influential essays from the three-volume work within the reach of concerned citizens who want to understand the real causes of hunger and deprivation.

Famines, the contributors believe, are caused not just by food shortages, but by social and economic factors, and a whole host of factors may intervene between a natural disaster and the ensuing famine. The most common instinctive reaction to famines--increasing the amount of food per capita--may only be effective in the very short term, and the real solution may turn out to be counter-intuitive.

Ranging from Africa to South Asia to China and written by an international array of authorities, the essays included in this abridgement give the best available analysis of the causes of worldwide hunger, and the best hope for effective aid policies in the future.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1430363 in Books
• Published on: 1995-08-24
• Format: Abridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 644 pages

Review

Praise for the previous volumes: "The authors are highly respected and the series draws on an extraordinary data base and comparison between countries....This series forms the most definitive recent analysis of the problems of hunger and deprivation in the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The range of issues and countries covered is nothing short of extraordinary....Meticulously argued....Attention to detail sets these studies far above other contemporary writing on hunger and deprivation. Equally, the series is welcome for its criticism of economic growth and food production to the exclusion of equity and distribution."--Dissent
"Obviously important with immediate implications for countless lives. Those who choose not to turn its pages will be deprived of an intellectual treat."--Journal of Economic Literature
"The essence of any abridged edition is that material must be removed, and it is hard to quibble with a focus on the massive populations of South and East Asia. Hussain's introduction does a useful job of summarizing the re-printed papers; desperate students will be grateful."--The Economic Journal

About the Author

Jean Dreze was formerly Lecturer in Development Economics at the London School of Economics.
Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University.