Railway
'On Economic Inequality', 'Poverty and Famines' and 'Development as Freedom' were written by:
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option D — Amartya Sen
Detailed Solution
"On Economic Inequality" (1973), "Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation" (1981) and "Development as Freedom" (1999) are books by the Indian economist and philosopher Amartya Sen.
About these books:
"On Economic Inequality" discusses how inequality can be measured and its links with welfare.
"Poverty and Famines" argues that famines are caused not only by a shortage of food, but by a failure of people's "entitlements", that is, their ability to buy or obtain food. It used the example of the Bengal famine of 1943, which Sen witnessed as a child.
"Development as Freedom" presents his "capability approach": development should be measured by the expansion of people's real freedoms and capabilities (such as health, education and political freedom), not just by income growth.
About Amartya Sen:
He was born on 3 November 1933 in Santiniketan, West Bengal. His name "Amartya" was given by Rabindranath Tagore.
He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his contributions to welfare economics.
He worked with the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq to develop the Human Development Index (HDI), first used in the UNDP Human Development Report in 1990.
He received the Bharat Ratna in 1999.
He has taught at Delhi School of Economics, the London School of Economics, Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard universities.
His other books include "The Argumentative Indian" (2005), "Identity and Violence" (2006), "The Idea of Justice" (2009), "An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions" (with Jean Drèze, 2013) and the memoir "Home in the World" (2021).
Other Indian-origin economists:
- Abhijit Banerjee: Nobel Prize in Economics (2019) with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer; "Poor Economics" and "Good Economics for Hard Times".
- Jagdish Bhagwati: "In Defense of Globalization".
- Kaushik Basu: former Chief Economist of the World Bank; "An Economist in the Real World".
Why not the other options?
- ✗Jagdish Bhagwati wrote "In Defense of Globalization".
- ✗Abhijit Banerjee wrote "Poor Economics".
- ✗Kaushik Basu wrote "An Economist in the Real World".
Quick tip
Remember: Amartya Sen = "Poverty and Famines" (entitlement approach), "Development as Freedom" (capability approach), "The Argumentative Indian"; Nobel 1998; Bharat Ratna 1999; HDI with Mahbub ul Haq.
💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Books & Authors Questions
View all ›More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.