What is the best way to lift up India’s poor population? In their recent book, Why Growth Matters (PublicAffairs, 2013), Columbia University Professors Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya argue that economic growth encouraged by liberal government policies is the way. For this work, the two have been awarded the 2014 George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing. They will be recognized on Monday, May 12, from 7-9:30 p.m. with a ceremony and live Q&A. The event will be held in the Faculty Room in Low Library on Columbia’s Morningside campus.George S. Eccles ’22 initially established the prize at the School over 25 years ago to foster interest in and spur public discussion of economic theory, practice, and issues. Between 1986 and 1993, it was awarded annually to esteemed figures such as Henry Kaufman, Maryann Keller, and Paul Krugman, for their works bridging theory and practice. It was given again in 1998, when Bhagwati, then of MIT, was recognized for his book, Stream of Windows (The MIT Press, 1999).In 2010, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation inaugurated an annual research award in finance and economics for Columbia Business School faculty members and reestablished the prize for economic writing. Last year, Paul Tetlock, the Roger F. Murray Associate Professor of Finance, was honored for his research on the impact of investors’ collective attention on stock prices. Also in 2013, Professor Daron Acemoglu of MIT and Professor James A. Robinson of Harvard took the Excellence in Economic Writing Award for their book, Why Nations Fail (Crown Business, 2012); Henry Kissinger received the award in 2012 for his book, Henry Kissinger on China (The Penguin Press HC, 2011).