Angus Deaton: Measuring Poverty and Wellbeing

Angus Deaton won the Nobel prize in 2015 for his analysis of consumption, poverty and welfare. A key theme of his work: to understand the economy, look carefully at individual households.

Household surveys

Deaton championed the use of detailed household surveys, which record what families spend on food, housing, education and more. These data reveal how people actually live, far more than national averages can.

Measuring poverty

Deaton worked on how to measure poverty accurately, including:

• How to compare living standards across countries using purchasing power.
• How survey design affects poverty estimates. In India, changes in survey questions about the recall period for spending produced different poverty numbers, sparking debates that Deaton helped clarify.

The calorie puzzle in India

With Jean Drèze, Deaton studied a puzzle: in India, calorie consumption per person fell in the 1980s and 1990s even as incomes rose. They suggested one explanation was that people needed fewer calories as work became less physically demanding and health improved, though undernutrition remained a serious concern.

The Great Escape

In The Great Escape (2013), Deaton described how much of humanity escaped poverty and early death, while warning that progress has been unequal. He was sceptical of some foreign aid, arguing it can weaken accountability between governments and citizens.

Deaths of despair

With Anne Case, Deaton documented rising deaths from drug overdoses, alcohol and suicide among middle-aged white Americans without college degrees, which they called deaths of despair. Their 2020 book linked this to declining job opportunities and social decay.

Views on randomised trials

Deaton has also been a thoughtful critic of over-reliance on randomised controlled trials, arguing that results may not generalise without understanding why programmes work.