What’s new and exciting in economics?

David Leonhardt reports a clear winner:

I received dozens of diverse responses, but there was still a
runaway winner. The small group of economists who work at the Jameel
Poverty Action Lab at M.I.T., led by Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, were mentioned far more often than anyone else.

Ms.
Duflo, Mr. Banerjee and their colleagues have a simple, if radical,
goal. They want to overhaul development aid so that more of it is spent
on programs that actually make a difference. And they are trying to do
so in a way that skirts the long-running ideological debate between aid
groups and their critics.