Fighting Poverty Through Direct Cash Transfers: A Conversation with GiveDirectly.Org's Paul Niehaus

What’s the best way to fight poverty? Here is one radical, simple idea: give cash to the poor and let them decide what to do with it, no strings attached. Over the past several years, this new approach has begun to gain international attention. Both domestic welfare policies and international development programs usually employ a top-down approach that’s heavily paternalistic, where the needs of the poor are determined by experts, and the aid itself is often made conditional on meeting various requirements set out by those experts. But, with a growing body of empirical research demonstrating their effectiveness, cash transfers are giving this traditional approach a run for its money.

Paul Niehaus, PhD, is an economist at the University of California San Diego, and one of the founders of GiveDirectly. In this talk, he discusses his work in establishing a universal basic income in rural Kenya, and other efforts to fight poverty through direct cash transfers, both internationally and right here in the United States.

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