Both articles are linked in the post, but happy to provide the full references as well:
Molotsky, A. and Handa, S., 2021. The psychology of poverty: Evidence from the field. Journal of African Economies, 30(3), pp.207-224.
Ibrahim, M., Chen, Y., Pereira, A., Musa, T., Bathia, D. and Handa, S., 2023. The Psychology of Poverty: A Replication Based on Zimbabwe's Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Programme. Journal of African Economies, p.ejad013.
Ahh thanks! I see the links here online on Substack, but for some reason they don't appear on my email (both mentions of "The Use of Life" as well as "News24" are active links in the email version though).
Governments have to weight up the costs and benefits of every policy they implement. Raising teacher salaries have benefits, as do building bridges. The point here is simply to say that cash transfers have more benefits than just putting cash in people's pockets. Whether cash transfers should be part of government policy depends, of course, on the fiscal situation of a country and its other spending priorities, which is not the focus of this post.
Very interesting, thanks for writing! Could you also provide references in the newsletters so that I can read further?
Both articles are linked in the post, but happy to provide the full references as well:
Molotsky, A. and Handa, S., 2021. The psychology of poverty: Evidence from the field. Journal of African Economies, 30(3), pp.207-224.
Ibrahim, M., Chen, Y., Pereira, A., Musa, T., Bathia, D. and Handa, S., 2023. The Psychology of Poverty: A Replication Based on Zimbabwe's Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Programme. Journal of African Economies, p.ejad013.
Ahh thanks! I see the links here online on Substack, but for some reason they don't appear on my email (both mentions of "The Use of Life" as well as "News24" are active links in the email version though).
Reading this as kid who grew up in the township , it hits home.
It hurts how the majority of people in SA find themselves in generational cycles of poverty that was not by coincidence but by design.
Thank you writing this man, I will definitely takes some quotes from here.
Great article. I found this interesting as well https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scarcity-having-little-means-much-ebook/dp/B00CUTLMKG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FBRZJERNFFBF&keywords=Scarcity&qid=1695377871&s=books&sprefix=scarcity%2Cstripbooks%2C107&sr=1-1
Isn’t this already what government does with social grants? Do you propose that government allocates even more to this programme?
Governments have to weight up the costs and benefits of every policy they implement. Raising teacher salaries have benefits, as do building bridges. The point here is simply to say that cash transfers have more benefits than just putting cash in people's pockets. Whether cash transfers should be part of government policy depends, of course, on the fiscal situation of a country and its other spending priorities, which is not the focus of this post.
With South Africa unwilling to necessarily trim its budget in other areas, giving away money is paradox.