Boiling the poor frogsVishy KurugantiOctober 02, 20204 minsIn the recently concluded first American Presidential debate, the stark economic policy difference between the two candidates was best illustated by their responses to “how exactly is the American…
We've got cash – you've got mailVishy KurugantiDecember 29, 20195 minsThat’s the tag line for GiveDirectly, a 10-year old US-based non-profit making waves in 9 African countries. “Cash” for unconditional cash transfers and “you’ve got mail” for the m-Pesa notification…
Unconditional transfers approaching primetimeVishy KurugantiDecember 05, 20193 minsSince I first read about unconditional transfers (in Banerjee and Duflo’s Poverty Economics book), I’ve been fascinated about this seemingly this-cant-possibly-work approach to foreign aid. Later I…
Bill and Melinda Gates debunk three mythsVishy KurugantiJanuary 24, 20145 minsThe 2014 Gates Annual Letter is out. You should read the entire letter. But since my exhortation may not be sufficient, I’ll present a few teasers from the three myths. Myth #1: Poor countries are…
Understanding moral hazards, moral imperatives and informal insuranceVishy KurugantiMay 31, 20123 minsI recently re-read Chapter 6 of Poor Economics (Barefoot Hedge-Fund Managers) because I was looking for a savings intervention RCT. I haven’t found that RCT yet but a related story — about how the…
Hunger Alleviation Lessons from Belo HorizonteVishy KurugantiApril 12, 20123 mins[Editor’s Note: (Sep 12, 2012): According to this Newslaundry editorial, Samar Halamkar (on whose column I based this post) might have indulged in plagiarism. Until I figure out what action I need to…
RSBY: a government initiative that (Gasp!) seems to workVishy KurugantiFebruary 22, 20125 mins[Editor’s Note: RSBY expands to Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (Hindi for “National Health Insurance Policy”). The brainchild of IAS officer and Director General of *Ministry of Labour and Employment…
Key nuggets from Bill Gates' Annual Letter 2012 – Global HealthVishy KurugantiFebruary 09, 20123 minsThis is Part 2 of TechSangam’s review of the 2012 Annual Letter from Bill Gates. The Gates letter covers 4 broad areas – Innovation in Agriculture, Global Health, US Education, and Foundation Updates…
Key nuggets from Bill Gates' Annual Letter 2012 – Innovation in AgricultureVishy KurugantiFebruary 08, 20123 minsIf you have time, you really should read the complete text of the 2012 Annual Letter from Bill Gates. But I know you live in a multi-screen world with thousands of tweets, status updates, and vids…
Nine Key Takeaways from HUNGaMA Survey on Hunger and MalnutritionVishy KurugantiJanuary 11, 20124 minsIn our continued coverage of Naandi Foundation’s HUNGaMA survey, we’ll look at the nine key takeaways in this post. [For the truly brave, here’s the link to the 139-page PDF that we’ll continue to…
