Economists have long believed that the least productive societies are those in which women are denied opportunities to join the workforce. In underdeveloped countries, women typically go without the most basic tools needed to earn a living: education, training and access to capital. Yet there is abundant evidence linking economic progress with empowered women. A recent study by the London School of Economics, to name just one example, showed that states in India where women are better educated were also those with higher economic growth rates.

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