Question 1

True or false: Sen's childhood experience of the Bengal famine inspired his work on poverty and hunger.

Accepted Answer

True. He witnessed the 1943 Bengal famine as a child, which deeply influenced his research on famine causes and welfare economics.

Question 2

True or false: Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on welfare economics and social choice.

Accepted Answer

True. Sen received the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory.

Question 3

True or false: Sen served as the President of the Indian Statistical Institute for over a decade.

Accepted Answer

True. He was chairman of the institute from 1986 to 2000, guiding its research in economics and statistics.

Question 4

True or false: Sen developed the Human Development Index used by the United Nations.

Accepted Answer

False. The HDI was created by economists Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen, but Sen contributed to its conceptual foundation, not sole development.

Question 5

True or false: Sen was the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Accepted Answer

False. He was the first Asian to win the prize, but it's actually true—he shares this distinction, though it's often misremembered. Correction: This fact is true, so I'll adjust: He was indeed the first Asian Nobel laureate in Economics.

Question 6

True or false: Sen's mother was a famous Bollywood actress in the 1940s.

Accepted Answer

True. His mother, Amita Sen, was a noted actress and writer in Bengali cinema, though not Bollywood. It's a little-known personal detail.

Question 7

True or false: Sen was a professional cricket player before becoming an economist.

Accepted Answer

False. He was a passionate cricket fan and played in college, but never professionally. This myth mixes his love for the sport with his academic career.

Question 8

True or false: Sen's concept of 'capability approach' was originally developed for environmental policy.

Accepted Answer

False. The capability approach was designed for welfare economics and development, focusing on what people can do and be, not specifically for environmental policy.

Amartya Sen Trivia Questions