#169 – Paul Niehaus on whether cash transfers cause economic growth, and keeping theft to acceptable levels

"One of our earliest supporters and a dear friend of mine, Mark Lampert, once said to me, “The way I think about it is, imagine that this money were already in the hands of people living in poverty. If I could, would I want to tax it and then use it to finance other projects that I think would benefit them?” I think that's an interesting thought experiment -- and a good one -- to say, “Are there cases in which I think that's justifiable?” — Paul NiehausIn today’s episode, host Luisa Rodriguez interviews Paul Niehaus — co-founder of GiveDirectly — on the case for giving unconditional cash to the world's poorest households.Links to learn more, summary and full transcript.They cover:The empirical evidence on whether giving cash directly can drive meaningful economic growthHow the impacts of GiveDirectly compare to USAID employment programmesGiveDirectly vs GiveWell’s top-recommended charitiesHow long-term guaranteed income affects people's risk-taking and investmentsWhether recipients prefer getting lump sums or monthly instalmentsHow GiveDirectly tackles cases of fraud and theftThe case for universal basic income, and GiveDirectly’s UBI studies in Kenya, Malawi, and LiberiaThe political viability of UBIPlenty moreChapters:Cold open (00:00:00)Luisa’s intro (00:00:58)The basic case for giving cash directly to the poor (00:03:28)Comparing GiveDirectly to USAID programmes (00:15:42)GiveDirectly vs GiveWell’s top-recommended charities (00:35:16)Cash might be able to drive economic growth (00:41:59)Fraud and theft of GiveDirectly funds (01:09:48)Universal basic income studies (01:22:33)Skyjo (01:44:43)Producer and editor: Keiran HarrisAudio Engineering Lead: Ben CordellTechnical editing: Dominic Armstrong and Milo McGuireAdditional content editing: Luisa Rodriguez and Katy MooreTranscriptions: Katy Moore