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Recently, a spate of economists have authored big conceptual books on topics of interdisciplinary and cross-sector import. This is a welcome trend in which economists are going beyond the standard, often narrowly-conceived research paper. Meanwhile, scholars in other disciplines are tackling pressing problems of political economy from a range of different perspectives. To spur interdisciplinary engagement between economists and scholars and practitioners from other disciplines, the Columbia Center for Political economy is hosting a series to embrace and critically examine key “big ideas” books through discussions, open to the public, at Columbia University.
This installment of the series, co-hosted by the Columbia Center for Development Economics and Policy and the Program for Economic Research, brings Pranab Bardhan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, to speak about his 2022 book A World of Insecurity: Democratic Disenchantment in Rich and Poor Countries. A World of Insecurity is an ambitious account of the corrosion of liberal democracy in rich and poor countries alike, arguing that antidemocratic sentiment reflects fear of material and cultural loss, not a critique of liberalism’s failure to delivery equality, and suggesting possible ways out.