Sem 5 Introductory Development Economics | Sec 1.5 Ch1 | Todaro & Smith | Amartya Sen's Functioning
Summary
TLDRIn this insightful session, the speaker introduces Amartya Sen, a Nobel laureate economist, emphasizing his groundbreaking work on development and capability deprivation. Sen argues that income and wealth are not ends but means to achieve goals, and poverty should be viewed as a lack of capability to perform desired actions. The speaker illustrates this with examples of how the same commodity can serve different purposes for different individuals. The concept of 'functioning,' what a person can do with resources, is highlighted, distinguishing between simple and complex functionings. The session concludes with a thought-provoking homework question about personal functionings one would achieve with income.
Takeaways
- đ Amartya Sen is a highly respected economist known for his work in development and winning the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics.
- đ Sen completed his PhD in an unusually short time of one year, highlighting his intellectual prowess.
- đ The speaker had a memorable experience meeting Sen and listening to his insights at a seminar.
- đ Sen's perspective is that income and wealth are not ends in themselves but means to achieve other ends.
- đ Sen argues that poverty should be viewed as a form of capability deprivation, not just a lack of income.
- đ The concept of 'functioning' introduced by Sen refers to what a person can do with the commodities they possess.
- đČ Sen uses the example of food to illustrate how the same commodity can have different utilities for different people based on their health or literacy.
- đ± Functionings are categorized into simple ones like nourishment and education, and complex ones like self-respect and community participation.
- đ The speaker encourages the audience to consider their top three functionings they would like to achieve with their income as a homework task.
- đ Sen's ideas challenge conventional understandings of poverty and wealth, emphasizing the importance of capabilities and freedoms.
Q & A
Who is Amartya Sen according to the speaker?
-Amartya Sen is described as an eminent personality, a renowned Economist in the field of development, who completed his PhD in one year and was the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics.
What is the speaker's personal experience with Amartya Sen?
-The speaker had the chance to meet Amartya Sen personally and listen to him in a seminar at the Delhi School of Economics, which was an amazing experience.
What does Amartya Sen believe about the concept of income and wealth?
-Amartya Sen believes that income and wealth are not ends in themselves but are means to achieve something else. They are instrumental for other purposes.
How does the speaker illustrate the importance of the timing of acquiring wealth?
-The speaker uses the example of a car, explaining that having a car in college life allows for adventures and enjoyment, whereas having the same car at the age of 40 might only provide comfort and utility for family use.
What is the conventional understanding of poverty that Amartya Sen challenges?
-The conventional understanding of poverty is the lack of income, but Amartya Sen challenges this by suggesting that poverty should be seen as a capability deprivation.
What does 'capability deprivation' mean in the context of Amartya Sen's work?
-Capability deprivation refers to the inability to do what one wants to do, which defines a person as poor if they lack certain essential freedoms or opportunities.
How does Amartya Sen define poverty in terms of functioning?
-Amartya Sen defines poverty as a deficiency of capability and lack of freedom, where poverty is not just about the lack of income but also about the inability to achieve desired functioning in life.
What is the difference between simple and complex functionings according to the speaker?
-Simple functionings are basic needs like nourishment and education, while complex functionings are more abstract concepts like self-respect and being part of a community.
What is the significance of the example of a book given to a literate and illiterate person?
-The example illustrates that the same commodity can have different uses and values depending on the consumer's capabilities, emphasizing the importance of the individual's ability to utilize resources.
What homework does the speaker assign to the audience?
-The speaker assigns the audience to think about their top three functionings they would like to achieve with their income.
What does the speaker emphasize as the key takeaway from Amartya Sen's perspective on economics?
-The speaker emphasizes that the key takeaway is understanding that economic measures like income and wealth are means to achieve various functionings in life, and that poverty is more about capability deprivation than just a lack of income.
Outlines
đ Introduction to Amartya Sen's Views on Economics and Wealth
The speaker introduces Amartya Sen, a renowned economist known for his work in development economics. Sen completed his PhD in an unusually short time and won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics. The speaker shares a personal experience of meeting Sen and emphasizes his influential ideas. Sen's perspective is that income and wealth are not ends in themselves but means to achieve other goals. The speaker uses examples to illustrate that the value of money is tied to the freedom and opportunities it provides at the right time.
đ Redefining Poverty Beyond Income: Capability Deprivation
The speaker elaborates on Sen's concept of poverty as capability deprivation, which goes beyond the traditional view of poverty as merely a lack of income. Sen argues that poverty should be understood as an inability to do what one wants to do, which is a form of freedom deprivation. The speaker explains that the well-being is not solely dependent on the commodity itself but on what the consumer can do with it. Examples are given to show how the same commodity can have different uses and values for different people, leading to the introduction of the term 'functioning,' which refers to what a person can do with a given commodity.
đ Understanding Functionings and Capabilities in Poverty Alleviation
The speaker continues to discuss the concept of 'functionings,' which are the actions a person can perform with a commodity. Sen differentiates between simple functionings, such as nourishment and education, and complex functionings, like self-respect and community participation. The speaker emphasizes that poverty is associated with a deficiency of capabilities and a lack of freedom to control one's life. The speaker concludes by assigning a homework task to identify three top functionings one would want to achieve with their income, highlighting the importance of understanding and applying Sen's theories to personal and societal development.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄEminent Personality
đĄDevelopment Economics
đĄPhD
đĄNobel Prize in Economics
đĄIncome and Wealth
đĄCapability Deprivation
đĄFunctioning
đĄFreedom
đĄPoverty
đĄWell-being
đĄHomework
Highlights
Introduction to Amartya Sen, a renowned Economist known for his work in development economics and winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics.
Sen's unique achievement of completing his PhD in one year, a feat that typically takes four to six years.
The speaker's personal experience of meeting Sen and the profound impact of listening to him speak at a seminar.
The importance of listening to Sen's lectures and the availability of his videos on YouTube for educational purposes.
Sen's perspective that income and wealth are not ends in themselves but means to achieve other goals.
The concept that money has value only when it is used at the right time for the right purpose.
The idea that poverty should be seen as a capability deprivation, not just a lack of income.
Sen's definition of poverty as the inability to do what one wants to do, highlighting the importance of freedom and capability.
The distinction between simple and complex functionings, with examples of each to illustrate the concept.
The significance of functioning in determining well-being, as opposed to just the characteristics of a commodity.
The example of how the same commodity can have different uses and values to different people based on their capabilities.
Sen's concept of 'functioning' as what a person does or can do with a commodity, and its importance in measuring poverty.
The role of freedom in determining poverty, where lack of freedom equates to a form of poverty.
The homework assignment to identify three top functionings one would want to achieve with their income.
The call to expand the horizon of thinking about poverty beyond just income to include capability and freedom.
Transcripts
hello bet good evening everyone before I
start this session can anyone tell me
picture the picture that I'm showing you
who is this eminent
personality he is none other than
Amia Amara s is one of the very very
very
renowned Economist in the field of
development he
he completed his entire PhD in one year
this people take four years 5 years six
years he did his PhD only in one year at
a very early age huh and he was the
winner of 1998 Nobel prize in
economics
and Z renowned Economist and as I have
always been telling you
I had this chance of meeting amaras
personally and listening to him in a
seminar in dehi school of Economics it
has been an it has been amazing
experience try to listen to him a lot of
his videos are on YouTube
also try to just listen to him you will
be
amazed you will be his big fan I can
tell
you we will try to understand what AM
has
said the first thing that he went ahead
and he said is that income and wealth
are not the end in them themselves but
instrumented for other purpose income or
wealth end it is a means to achieve
something so just imagine suppose I tell
you K beta I will give you one CR rupees
but from now on I will go ahead and put
you in a room and lock you in
room will you want that you will not
right
so in just having money or having we
imagine I become very
very will you be able to enjoy anything
no
so money at right time is also important
everything has a value attached to it
this is what I always did so imagine two
people but when he turned 40 now this
person who got car in his college
life he can go ahead he can go to 10
places just Delhi pass there is this
place mual and you can go to mual you
can enjoy your car drive if you're in
Bangalore you can drive till pondi you
can do different things time but if you
have the same car at the age of 40 you
may not be able to enjoy those
Adventures huh car benefit you will be
taking it to office you will be going
ahead and taking your family in the car
it will give you comfort but Jo
Adventure
everything has everything has um
importance when you get it at the right
time same thing is with income and
wealth income is not the
end it is a means to achieve something
you want to go ahead and you want to
achieve something through
money so income and and wealth are not
end in them themselves they are
instrumented for other purpose they are
used they are means to achieve the end
end is different right and I going to
talk about this in a separate completely
separate topic better that I will be
talking about and that topic is chapter
that is called as poverty as capability
deprivation
so poverty as capability deprivation
actually goes ahead and says the same
thing that we need to expand our Horizon
of thinking of
poverty it has always been thought that
the person who lacks income is
poor of course that is true but even if
you have money but you don't have
certain essential things
freedom to
enjoyy then I am equally poor so poverty
should be seen as a capability
deprivation what I can and cannot do
will define whether I am poor or
Rich what I can do and what I cannot do
that will determine whether I am rich or
poor okay let's read this out bet
according to
S poverty cannot be measured by income
or utility as conventionally
understood we don't want to go ahead and
see poverty as lack of income of
course but we don't want to see poverty
as lack of income we want to go ahead
and see people as poor if they are not
able to do what they want to
do if someone is not able to do what
they want to do then they are poor
simple this is how he defined
poverty so for example if I want to go
ahead and I want to
teach but if I am not allowed to teach
though I am also poor in some aspect
okay to Poverty should not be taken as
is conventionally understood is
conventional
understanding okay now see here what
matters for well-being is not just
characteristic of commodity but what the
consumer can or do with the
commodity commodity same commodity I can
give to two different people just a book
I can give book to a literate person and
illiterate person but for an illiterate
person book is of no use
book he will sell those Chas right he
will sell he will just put something in
the paper of the books and just sell it
off that's the maximum use of um maximum
use of you know that thing to that
illiterate person but to a literate
person
book right he will gain more knowledge
out of it right so the same commodity
can be the characteristic of commodity
is same book
character but it can be of different use
to different people similarly he gave
another example just a food now what
happens with food is the same only bet
so if I have suppose one uh bowl of
Dal and I give it to a person who is
healthy and a person who is unhealthy
the person who is unhealthy may not get
that much nourishment from healthy
person right food characteristic is same
but it may happen that the amount that
the body is able to extract nourishment
body May so the same commodity may be of
different usage to different
people now basis am he went ahead and he
defined something which is known as
functioning functioning means what a
person does or can do with commodity of
given
characteristic
cheese for example if you give me 100
rupees and I buy a book and I give you
100 rupees and you watch a
movie 100 rupes both of us had the same
commodity that is 100 rupees of money
but what you will do and what I will do
with that commodity will be different to
what a person
does what a person does or can do with
commodity of given characteristic that
is called as functioning so functioning
is valued being or
doing what you are doing with a
commodity that is called as functioning
now try to see this better so till
now conventional approach poverty was
considered to be lack of income this is
conventional
approach conventional approach May
poverty was considered to be lack of
income but now Amar went ahead and said
that poverty can be associated with
deficiency of capability with lack of
Freedom yeah be poty he and what is
freedom freedom is to
control one's own life
Freedom whether I am able to lead a life
the way I want or
not if I am a woman and I want to go and
work outside am I allowed to work
outside is the society giving me that
freedom to work
outside if not then I am also under the
category of poor because I am being
deprived of the freedom to work
outside right okay
fing what you want to
do your functioning can be that you want
to become healthy that you want to
become well-nourished that you want to
have good clothes you want to be mobile
that means you want the freedom to move
from one place to another you want to
have
self-esteem he functioning functioning
is what a person is able to
do I just want to take you through
different kind of functioning first beta
so if I talk about different kind of
functionings there are two kind of
functionings the first functioning is a
simple
functioning like
nourishment educated these are simple
functionings the second kind of
functioning that I have that is called
as complex functionings so complex
functioning means that I want to maybe
be a part of
community respect my
self-esteem my self resect so these are
called
as you know they are complex in nature
they are difficult to understand these
are not very
simple I can understand whether they are
healthy or not but I cannot understand
whether they have self-respect or not
self-esteem or not right so simple
functioning is like nourishment but
complex functioning is like self-respect
right so these are the two kind of
functionings that we have am I clear
with it so I hope that this is clear to
you beta today I just want to focus on
functioning first and as a homework I
want you to answer
me that if you have income with you
what will be your three p top
functionings that you want to
achieve functions
aieve what will be the three top
functionings you want to achieve with
your income you want to you should go
ahead and tell me that okay Bet thank
you
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
'Development as Freedom': A Deep Analysis into Amartya Sen's Vision
A "Misteriosa" Ferramenta Cerebral Para Alcançar Objetivos
How to get what you want...
Amartya Sen: El desarrollo desde la perspectiva de las capacidades.
I soldi fanno la felicitĂ ? #libertĂ finanziaria #soldi #finanzapersonale
Risk Management for Individuals â Part III (2024 Level III CFAÂź Program â Reading 22)
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)