ABSTRACT
The would-be dragon-slayer seems to have stumbled on his sword. There is some plausibility in this diagnosis, but is it really true that develop-
EDITOR'S NOTE: As the reigning dean of development economics, Sen offers a subtle combination of repudiation and apology for the sins of the profession, the real object being to quietly direct attention away from simple quantitative indicators to the more sophisticated social and political analyses presumed by his notions of" entitlements" and "capabilities." Politically, the paper represents the (successful) effort to poach the agenda of the left, effectively co-opting it into mainstream ideology.
