Poor Relief: Why Giving People Money Is Not the Answer to Global Poverty

An economist challenges an emerging orthodoxy: the idea that the best way to alleviate poverty is simply to give people money.

A simple notion has become increasingly widespread in recent years: to lift people out of poverty, just give them money. The World Bank, United Nations, and US Agency for International Development all now endorse the use of cash transfers. So do Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and everyday philanthropists—the charity GiveDirectly has raised more than $800 million to dis...