For the better part of two decades, development economics has been held captive by a ‘clinical’ revolution. What began as a niche statistical tool has, through a masterclass in institutional branding, been elevated to the undisputed ‘Gold Standard’ of economic science. We are told a heartwarming tale of ‘Nobel laureates caring about poverty’, a narrative where the ‘bottom billion’ are finally being saved by the rigorous, scientific tinkering of MIT and Harvard.

But as I argue in the newly released second edition of Nobel Laureates Caring About Poverty: Banerjee, Duflo, MIT, and Randomized Controlled Trials(2026), if we strip away the public relations sheen, a far more cynical reality emerges. This is not a story of scientific discovery but an ‘Inside Job’ executed with clinical precision. It is a rebranding exercise designed to cement institutional power and create a circular monopoly over global funding and academic prestige.

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