Podcast appearances and mentions of paul niehaus

As we begin a new year, we're sharing a classic from the Giving Done Right archive in which Phil and Grace talk with Paul Niehaus, co-founder and chairman of GiveDirectly. Paul discusses the power of direct cash transfers – how they work, why trusting those in need with cash can be extremely effective, and when certain issue areas might warrant a different philanthropic approach. They also discuss the effective altruism movement and how to consider giving domestically versus internationally. Additional Resources GiveDirectly Cash transfer research via GiveDirectly GiveWell The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically by Peter Singer Universal Basic Income project in Kenya

A bit ago I caught up with The Lucky Old Sons to discuss their brand new album WTF IN THE STL, some of the group's history, stories behind these songs, recording with Paul Niehaus at Blue Lotus and much more.  On this episode you'll hear: WTF in the STL Still Number One  Find the full album wherever you get your digital music! Grab a copy on CD and a shirt at any upcoming shows or LuckyOldSons.com See them LIVE Jan 10 at Hammerstone's Feb 14 at Hammerstone's Mar 14 at Hammerstone's April 11 at Hammerstone's Listen to Rock Paper Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast apps or ROCKPAPERPODCAST.com

Amanda Fish returns!! Amanda just released a brand new album KINGDOM. I was fortunate enough to sit with her at Blue Lotus in St. Louis, MO to talk all about it. We get into some of the storeis behind these songs, recording with Paul Niehaus IV at Blue Lotus & upcoming tour. Amanda (along with some help from Paul Niehaus) perform a live acoustic version of her new song "Mockingbird" from the new album. Also as we talk about Halloween and our some of our favorite Fall activities coming up.  On this episode you'll hear: Mockingbird (Live Acoustic) Broke Ass Blues The Hard Way Mother Find more from Amanda Fish on your favorite streaming service or visit AmandaFishBand.com See her LIVE 10/4 Wanderlust Market Washington, MO 10/5 Paddle Stop Brewery New Haven, MO 10/24 Hammerstone's St.Louis, MO 11/1 Beard Engine Brewing Alba, MO 11/8 Rhythm Room Phoenix, AZ 11/9 191 Toole Tucson, AZ 11/11 Red Piano Santa Barbara, CA 11/15 Sand Dollar Las Vegas, NV 11/29 BB's Lawnside Blues & BBQ Kansas City, MO Listen to Rock Paper Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast apps or RockPaperPodcast.com  

Singer Songwriter Darian Poe returns!! I caught up with Darian while she is in town for a bit to talk all things around the brand new album TIME TO ROAM due out on September 15th! We also talk about living in Colorado & building a bus into a home. We talk about recording this new album with Paul Niehaus over at Blue Lotus and some of the special guests Darian had record with her. We also play a coupe live acoustic and give you a sneak peek at the new album!   On this episode you'll hear: Time To Roam (Snippet) Out of Sight, Out Of Mind (Live Acoustic) Some Crazy Years (Live Acoustic) See Darian Poe LIVE Sept 7 Venue on Main in Belleville, IL Sept 14 Foodstock 420p Cottage Hills, IL Sept 14 Album Release Party Stagger Inn Edwardsville, IL Sept 20 The Corner Tavern Edwardsville, IL Find more from Darian Poe on your favorite steaming platform. Follow along on YouTube, FB & IG. TIME TO ROAM due out September 15th!

Sending regular small sums of money to households or individuals are go-to policy. Should these transfers be universal or targeted? And how big, and how regular, should the sums be? In another episode based on the most interesting presentations from the CEPR-PSE Symposium 2024, Paul Niehaus explains to Tim Phillips how cash transfers work best to relieve poverty. Picture credit: WFP/Simon Pierre Diouf

Over the last five years, Milan has interviewed authors of big books, that have brought innovative new ideas to the India policy debate.  And he's also interviewed authors of lengthy books. On the show this week, he sits down with an author who's written a big book in every sense of the term.It is no stretch to say that Accelerating India's Development: A State-Led Roadmap for Effective Governance is one of the most important books written about the political economy of India's development. Over 600 pages and 200 pages of notes, it takes readers on an exhaustive deep dive of India's governance challenges, especially in delivering essential public services. The book draws on a wealth of research and practical insights to offer actionable, evidence-based strategies for reforms.The author of this new book is the economist Karthik Muralidharan. Karthik is the Tata Chancellor's Professor of Economics at the University of California San Diego.He is one of the most prolific economists of his generation and his works spans public finance and development economics, with a focus on education, health, welfare, and public service delivery.Milan and Karthik discuss the book's origin story, Karthik's framework for thinking about state capacity, and how to change the incentives of politicians and bureaucrats. Plus, the two discuss some of the book's big ideas, ranging from data collection to public sector contracting and cash transfers.Episode notes:1. Karthik Muralidharan, Niehaus, Paul, and Sandip Sukhtankar, "General Equilibrium Effects of (Improving) Public Employment Programs: Experimental Evidence from India," Econometrica 91, no. 4 (2023): 1261-1295.2. Karthik Muralidharan, Paul Niehaus, and Sandip Sukhtankar, "Integrating Biometric Authentication in India's Welfare Programs: Lessons from a Decade of Reforms," Center for Effective Global Action Working Papers, University of California, 2022.3. Karthik Muralidharan, Paul Niehaus, Sandip Sukhtankar, and Jeffrey Weaver, "Improving Last-Mile Service Delivery Using Phone-Based Monitoring," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 13, no. 2 (2021): 52-82.4. Karthik Muralidharan, Paul Niehaus, and Sandip Sukhtankar, "Building State Capacity: Evidence from Biometric Smartcards in India," American Economic Review 106, no. 10 (2016): 2895-2929.5. Karthik Muralidharan, “A New Approach to Public Sector Hiring in India for Improved Service Delivery,” India Policy Forum 12, no. 1 (2016): 187-236.

To reform India, you must reform the Indian state. Karthik Muralidharan joins Amit Varma in episode 375 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his much-awaited new book that has finally released -- and the chapters on it that deal with our bureaucracy. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Karthik Muralidharan on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar, UCSD and CEGIS. 2. Accelerating India's Development -- Karthik Muralidharan.  3. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 4. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 5. Karthik Muralidharan Examines the Indian State -- Episode 290 of The Seen and the Unseen. 6. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 7. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah). 8. Brave New World -- Vasant Dhar's podcast. 9. To Kill A Mockingbird -- Harper Lee. 10. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything. 11. The Elusive Quest for Growth -- William R Easterly. 12. The White Man's Burden -- William R Easterly. 13. The Tyranny of Experts -- William R Easterly. 14. Thomas Sargent's speech at Berkeley. 15. Front-line Courts As State Capacity: Evidence From India -- Manaswini Rao. 16. The Argumentative Indian -- Amartya Sen. 17. BR Ambedkar's speech to the constituent assembly in 1949. 18. State Building -- Francis Fukuyama. 19. Why Freedom Matters -- Episode 10 of Everything is Everything. 20. Understanding the State -- Episode 25 of Everything is Everything. 21. When Should the State Act? -- Episode 26 of Everything is Everything. 22. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything. 23. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 24. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 25. The Political Economy of Bureaucratic Overload -- Aditya Dasgupta and Devesh Kapur. 26. Red Tape -- Akhil Gupta. 27. Paper Tiger -- Nayanika Mathur. 28. Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh — Shrayana Bhattacharya. 29. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 30. The Life and Work of Ashwini Deshpande -- Episode 298 of The Seen and the Unseen. 31. Annie Hall -- Woody Allen. 32. The withering trend of public employment in India -- CP Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh. 33. The Colonial Constitution — Arghya Sengupta. 34. Arghya Sengupta and the Engine Room of Law — Episode 366 of The Seen and the Unseen. 35. Active and Passive Waste in Government Spending -- Oriana Bandiera, Andrea Prat and Tommaso Valletti. 36. Lagaan -- Ashutosh Gowariker. 37. List of Soviet and Russian leaders by height. 38. Bureaucratic Indecision and Risk Aversion in India -- Sneha P, Neha Sinha, Avanti Durani and Ayush Patel. 39. A Theory of Misgovernance -- Abhijit Banerjee. 40. Premature load bearing: Doing too much too soon -- Matt Andrews, Lant Pritchett and Michael Woolcock. 41. Sense and Sensibility -- Jane Austen. 42. Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen. 43. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Montek Singh Ahluwalia). 44. India's Massive Pensions Crisis — Episode 347 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah & Renuka Sane). 45. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 46. How China Escaped the Poverty Trap -- Yuen Yuen Ang. 47. Pritika Hingorani Wants to Fix Our Cities -- Episode 361 of The Seen and the Unseen. 48. Gangaajal -- Prakash Jha. 49. Building State Capacity: Evidence from Biometric Smartcards in India -- Karthik Muralidharan, Paul Niehaus and Sandip Sukhtankar. 50. Amitabh Bachchan on Twitter. 51. Nick Bloom at Stanford. 52. The Personnel Economics of the Developing State -- Frederico Finan, Benjamin Olken and Rohini Pande. 53. Double for Nothing? Experimental Evidence on an Unconditional Teacher Salary Increase in Indonesia -- Joppe de Ree, Karthik Muralidharan, Menno Pradhan and Halsey Rogers. 54. The Indian Labour Market through the Lens of Public Sector Recruitment -- Kunal Mangal. 55. Timepass: Youth, Class, and the Politics of Waiting in India -- Craig Jeffrey. 56. Karmayogi Bharat. 57. India Moving — Chinmay Tumbe. 58. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 59. A new vision for legal education in India -- Abhishek Singhvi. 60. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht — Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 61. Zindagi Toh Bewafa Hai -- Song from Muqaddar Ka Sikandar. Amit's newsletter is explosively active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free! Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Magic and Files' by Simahina.

This is a selection of highlights from episode #169 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Paul Niehaus on whether cash transfers cause economic growth, and keeping theft to acceptable levelsAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

"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 moreProducer and editor: Keiran HarrisAudio Engineering Lead: Ben CordellTechnical editing: Dominic Armstrong and Milo McGuireAdditional content editing: Luisa Rodriguez and Katy MooreTranscriptions: Katy Moore

We saw during the pandemic that giving people cash is good for individuals and the economy as a whole. It makes sense: When people have more money, they spend it in their communities and stimulate the local economy. So why don't we give people money all the time? Our guest today started a charity that combats poverty by giving people cash, with no strings attached, to use how they wish. The results have been really encouraging. Paul Niehaus, co-founder of GiveDirectly, explains how his program works—and more importantly, why it works. Paul Niehaus is an economist at UCSD and an entrepreneur working to accelerate the end of extreme poverty. He is co-founder, former president, and current director at GiveDirectly, the leading international NGO specialized in digital cash transfers and consistently rated one of the most impactful ways to give. Twitter: @PaulFNiehaus GiveDirectly https://www.givedirectly.org Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Twitter: @PitchforkEcon Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Nick's twitter: @NickHanauer

Paul Niehaus IV returns!! I took a trip back to Blue Lotus Recordings in St.Louis, MO to meet up with my buddy Paul Niehaus. We've spent a lot of time in the studio talking about a lot of various albums he's been a part of but this time we're talking about his debut album! Paul shares some stories behind this collection of songs, his upcoming album release party and we play one live acoustic.  On this episode you'll hear: My Daddy's Old Guitar I'll Be Your Shelter (In Time Of Storm) Luther Ingram cover If I Stay Too Long (Live) See Paul Niehaus LIVE: August 18th Album Release Party at Mad Art Gallery with special guests VonMeyer & Red I HiFi Follow along with Paul on YouTube, Facebook & Instagram. Keep an eey out for his music video for the single "Chasing The Sun" debuting August 11th.  Be sure to visit Blue Lotus Recordings to record your next project! BlueLotusRecordings.com Listen to Rock Paper Podcast on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple & Google Podcast apps or ROCKPAPERPODCAST.com Thank you to Friendship Brewing Company in Wentzville, MO and Flint Hill, MO for their continued support! Be sure to come visit them for all your craft beer needs. Over 25 rotating taps, all sorts of tasty eats and a big ol patio to enjoy some Summer with friends! Live music every weekend FBC Wentzville 8/10 Singo Bingo 8/11 Denver Wade Trent (7-10p) 8/12 Josh Littig (7-10p) 8/13 Matt Walterscheid (1-4p). FLI-HI Music: 8/11 Corey Clapper (7-10p) 8/12 Jeff Walchauser (7-10p) 8/13 Dustin Arbuckle & The Damnations (4-6p) FriendshipBrewingCo.com

The other day I stopped by Blue Lotus Recordings in St. Louis, MO to sit with Jeremiah Johnson to talk all about his brand new album HI FI DRIVE BY. Jeremiah brought along our friends Paul Niehaus & Tom Maloney who helped record & produce the album. It was a lot of fun talking about some of the behind the scenes action that made this album possible. We share some of stories behind some of the songs and give you a sneak peek at few tracks.  Thanks again to Blue Lotus for their helping in recording all of this episode. Be sure to reach out for your recording needs! BlueLotusRecordings.com On this episode you'll hear:  The Squeeze Hot Diggity Dog (Live Acoustic) Quicksand Pre-order a copy of HI FI DRIVE BY and the coffee table book at JeremiahJohnsonBand.com. Due out everywhere on Oct 21st! Keep an eye out for vinyl coming soon.  See Jeremiah Johnson LIVE Oct 21 at Blue House Theater Warrenton, MO Oct 22 at Brown Jerry's Pacific, MO Oct 27 at RedFish Blue Fish St.Charles, MO Oct 28 at Red Dog Pub Cape Girardeau, MO Oct 29 at BB's St. Louis, MO Nov 3 at Hammerstone's St. Louis, MO Nov 25 at Diamond Music Hall  St. Peters, MO (Big Band) Find all dates, merch, videos & more at JeremiahJohnsonBand.com Check out my friends at Friendship Brewing Company in Wentzville, MO with over 25 rotating taps for all your craft beer needs. They have a wonderful spot out there and huge patio. Perfect for enjoying a cold beverage with some good friends! Check out their menu with all sorts of delicious food like burgers, nachos & flatbread pizzas. Come grab some lunch or dinner, enjoy some live music and have a great time at Friendship Brewing Company! FriendshipBrewCo.com Live Music: 10/14 Matt Walterscheid (7-10p) 10/15 The Wurst Bavarian Band (3-6p) Buddy & Q (7-10p)   Also check out my friends at Roughneck Beard Company & American Rambler! It's officially beard season. The weather is cooling off and it's the prime time for growth. Whether you are keeping it going or growing it out for the first time, Roughneck Beard Company products make it better. Eliminate the itch, and set the stage for faster, fuller growth with Roughnecks full line of beard oils, balms, washes, and nutrient sprays!! If you do decide to shave it off, do it with American Ramblers nourishing and protective Pre-shave Oils! Roughneck & American Rambler have you covered for all your beard & mustache needs. RoughneckBeardCompany.com Promo code RPP15

From the earliest days of economics as a formal science, economists have been trying to understand the causes of the wealth of nations. In the field of development economics, the introduction of the randomized controlled trial has become an important tool in the broader toolbox of economists for trying to understand the many things that may cause the improvement of human welfare in lower income countries, too. This work has been ground breaking and recognized by the Nobel committee for its lasting importance. Like many others, I have been inspired by the development economists relentless effort to address poverty through rigorous causal inference and program evaluation. While most people know that randomization is an important ingredient in causal inference, what is not as widely known is the Stable Unit Treatment Value Assumption, or SUTVA for short. We know that randomized treatments can eliminate selection bias and thus allow us to use realized outcomes in place of potential outcome. SUTVA requires that the potential outcomes themselves be stable and unchanging when treatment assignments of other units change, which brings to mind complex problems with externalities between people and interference when designing experiments, but as Imbens and Rubin note in their 2015 book, SUTVA also requires that treatments not vary unknowingly across units. Such “hidden variation in treatment” can make causal interpretation difficult if not possible. But SUTVA also brings to mind the problems of external validity. When someone reading of a study's large gains in a field experiment, they might then decide to roll out such a program at large scale. Assume for simplicity constant treatment effects for a moment — can they expect the same thing to happen in their community what happened in this particular trial? They can insofar as they do not inadvertently change the treatment itself by unknowingly varying the inputs in important ways. If the RCT found large literacy gains using a particular type worker, but to bring it to scale, the policymaker foregoes using those same inputs, then it becomes a new empirical question as to whether the effect found in the lab will in fact scale, even with constant treatment effects. But we have known this for centuries. Concepts like production functions and cost functions directly speak to these very things. Successful policy requires evidence but also a set of skills that maybe aren't there when designing or evaluating an RCT. It requires both cognitive skill, and perhaps even moreso non cognitive skill, as often the economist then must wear both a scientist hat, a manager hat, and an entrepreneur hat. And not every economist has those skills, or maybe even is interested in venturing into the messy world of building socially impactful policy. But I have also been inspired by a small group of applied development economists like Noam Angrist, Co-founder and Executive Director of Youth Impact (formerly Young 1ove), and Paul Niehaus at GiveDirectly, who create organizations that try to bring effective programs to larger scale while simultaneously committing themselves to constant evaluation of themselves and their programs. Whether it's a trend or not, I don't know, but I have been intrigued. This week on The Mixtape with Scott, I have the pleasure of interviewing one of these economist entrepreneurs, Noam Angrist. Noam is, as I said, the co-founder and executive director of Youth Impact, a non-profit focused on improving the welfare of young people around the world through education and health programs. I met him for the first time several years ago because I noticed what he was doing and had done and wanted to introduce him to my students. So I wrote and asked him if he would be willing to be the de facto keynote speaker at a conference I was helping organize on causal inference. He graciously agreed and spoke with us about the organization he had helped found and the work they were doing in developing countries scaling rigorously evaluated interventions to reach thousands of youth around the world. I was very intrigued because of the blend of causal inference and economics with such creative entrepreneurial work. Given the explosive success of the credibility revolution at changing hearts and minds, I suppose it was only a matter of time before economist-entrepreneurs trained in that way of thinking would begin moving outside of academic departments and into other parts of the world. We have seen it with economists in tech. Noam Angrist is an example of the contemporary economist-entrepreneur who works closely with governments, academia and even commerce to bring the best of all things to help achieve the age-old quest of economics of improving the well being of humans alive today.In this interview, Noam and I talked about growing up in Massachusetts and the looking back serendipitous injury in high school that put him on a path to studying economics at MIT. He's since embarked on an original career as an economist where his competency as a leader, his creativity and curiosity as a scientist and his innate commitment to public service and community is shaping the type of work and the way that work is done at Youth Impact. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. Please follow, subscribe and consider supporting The Mixtape with Scott!Scott's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

From the earliest days of economics as a formal science, economists have been trying to understand the causes of the wealth of nations. In the field of development economics, the introduction of the randomized controlled trial has become an important tool in the broader toolbox of economists for trying to understand the many things that may cause the improvement of human welfare in lower income countries, too. This work has been ground breaking and recognized by the Nobel committee for its lasting importance. Like many others, I have been inspired by the development economists relentless effort to address poverty through rigorous causal inference and program evaluation. While most people know that randomization is an important ingredient in causal inference, what is not as widely known is the Stable Unit Treatment Value Assumption, or SUTVA for short. We know that randomized treatments can eliminate selection bias and thus allow us to use realized outcomes in place of potential outcome. SUTVA requires that the potential outcomes themselves be stable and unchanging when treatment assignments of other units change, which brings to mind complex problems with externalities between people and interference when designing experiments, but as Imbens and Rubin note in their 2015 book, SUTVA also requires that treatments not vary unknowingly across units. Such “hidden variation in treatment” can make causal interpretation difficult if not possible. But SUTVA also brings to mind the problems of external validity. When someone reading of a study's large gains in a field experiment, they might then decide to roll out such a program at large scale. Assume for simplicity constant treatment effects for a moment — can they expect the same thing to happen in their community what happened in this particular trial? They can insofar as they do not inadvertently change the treatment itself by unknowingly varying the inputs in important ways. If the RCT found large literacy gains using a particular type worker, but to bring it to scale, the policymaker foregoes using those same inputs, then it becomes a new empirical question as to whether the effect found in the lab will in fact scale, even with constant treatment effects. But we have known this for centuries. Concepts like production functions and cost functions directly speak to these very things. Successful policy requires evidence but also a set of skills that maybe aren't there when designing or evaluating an RCT. It requires both cognitive skill, and perhaps even moreso non cognitive skill, as often the economist then must wear both a scientist hat, a manager hat, and an entrepreneur hat. And not every economist has those skills, or maybe even is interested in venturing into the messy world of building socially impactful policy. But I have also been inspired by a small group of applied development economists like Noam Angrist, Co-founder and Executive Director of Youth Impact (formerly Young 1ove), and Paul Niehaus at GiveDirectly, who create organizations that try to bring effective programs to larger scale while simultaneously committing themselves to constant evaluation of themselves and their programs. Whether it's a trend or not, I don't know, but I have been intrigued. This week on The Mixtape with Scott, I have the pleasure of interviewing one of these economist entrepreneurs, Noam Angrist. Noam is, as I said, the co-founder and executive director of Youth Impact, a non-profit focused on improving the welfare of young people around the world through education and health programs. I met him for the first time several years ago because I noticed what he was doing and had done and wanted to introduce him to my students. So I wrote and asked him if he would be willing to be the de facto keynote speaker at a conference I was helping organize on causal inference. He graciously agreed and spoke with us about the organization he had helped found and the work they were doing in developing countries scaling rigorously evaluated interventions to reach thousands of youth around the world. I was very intrigued because of the blend of causal inference and economics with such creative entrepreneurial work. Given the explosive success of the credibility revolution at changing hearts and minds, I suppose it was only a matter of time before economist-entrepreneurs trained in that way of thinking would begin moving outside of academic departments and into other parts of the world. We have seen it with economists in tech. Noam Angrist is an example of the contemporary economist-entrepreneur who works closely with governments, academia and even commerce to bring the best of all things to help achieve the age-old quest of economics of improving the well being of humans alive today.In this interview, Noam and I talked about growing up in Massachusetts and the looking back serendipitous injury in high school that put him on a path to studying economics at MIT. He's since embarked on an original career as an economist where his competency as a leader, his creativity and curiosity as a scientist and his innate commitment to public service and community is shaping the type of work and the way that work is done at Youth Impact. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. Please follow, subscribe and consider supporting The Mixtape with Scott!Scott's Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Scott's Substack at causalinf.substack.com/subscribe

Musician, Producer, Sound Engineer, and Founder of Blue Lotus Studio, joins Ray on the Schlafly Beer Music Hour on this Friday Night in St. Louis

In 1947, few people gave us 75 years. Bloody hell, here we are! And it is up to us now to make this country the best version of itself. Karthik Muralidharan joins Amit Varma in episode 290 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss one of our problem areas: the Indian state. Can we fix it? Yes we can! (For full linked show notes, go to SeenUnseen.in.) Also check out: 1. Karthik Muralidharan on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and UCSD. 2. Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS) 3. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 4. Understanding Indian Healthcare -- Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 5. General equilibrium effects of (improving) public employment programs: experimental evidence from India -- The paper on NREGA by Karthik Muralidharan, Paul Niehaus and Sandip Sukhtankar. 6. Kashmir and Article 370 -- Episode 134 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 7. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 8. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 9. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 10. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah). 11. Pramit Bhattacharya Believes in Just One Ism -- Episode 256 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pramit Bhattacharya). 12. The Paradox of Narendra Modi — Episode 102 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shashi Tharoor). 13. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia -- Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Montek Singh Ahluwalia). 14. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the creator ecosystem with Roshan Abbas, Varun Duggirala, Neelesh Misra, Snehal Pradhan, Chuck Gopal, Nishant Jain, Deepak Shenoy and Abhijit Bhaduri. 15. The Case Against Sugar — Gary Taubes. 16. The Big Fat Surprise — Nina Teicholz. 17. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao -- Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 18. The Macroeconomist as Scientist and Engineer -- N Gregory Mankiw. 19. The Gated Republic -- Shankkar Aiyar. 20. Despite the State — M Rajshekhar. 21. The Power Broker— Robert Caro. 22. The Death and Life of Great American Cities — Jane Jacobs. 23. India's Security State -- Episode 242 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Josy Joseph). 24. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma. 25. India's Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 26. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms -- Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 27. State Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century — Francis Fukuyama. 28. The Origins of Political Order — Francis Fukuyama. 29. Political Order and Political Decay — Francis Fukuyama. 30. Computer Nahi Monitor -- Episode 5 of season 1 of Panchayat. 31. Naushad Forbes Wants to Fix India -- Episode 282 of The Seen and the Unseen. 32. Courts Redux: Micro-Evidence from India -- Manaswini Rao. 33.  The Checklist Manifesto -- Atul Gawande. 34. Annie Hall -- Woody Allen. 35. The Politics Limerick -- Amit Varma. 36. The Decline of the Congress -- Episode 248 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 37. The Burden of Democracy -- Pratap Bhanu Mehta. 38. A Theory of Clientelistic Politics versus Programmatic Politics -- Pranab Bardhan and Dilip Mookherjee. 39. Power and Prosperity — Mancur Olson. 40. The Business of Winning Elections -- Episode 247 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shivam Shankar Singh). 41. Premature load bearing: Evidence, Analysis, Action -- Matt Andrews, Lant Pritchett and Michael Woolcock. 42. A Meditation on Form — Amit Varma. 43. Religion and Ideology in Indian Society -- Episode 124 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Suyash Rai). 44. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills -- Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 45. India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy -- Ramachandra Guha. 46. Participatory Democracy -- Episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 47. Cities and Citizens -- Episode 198 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 48. Helping Others in the Fog of Pandemic -- Episode 226 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 49. Aakar Patel Is Full of Hope -- Episode 270 of The Seen and the Unseen. 50. The Tamilian gentleman who took on the world -- Amit Varma on Viswanathan Anand. 51. Running to Stand Still -- U2. 52. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength -- Amit Varma. 53. India's Founding Moment — Madhav Khosla. 54. The Ideas of Our Constitution -- Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla). 55. The Life and Times of Urvashi Butalia -- Episode 287 of The Seen and the Unseen. 56. Pitfalls of Participatory Programs -- Abhijit Banerjee, Rukmini Banerji, Esther Duflo, Rachel Glennerster and Stuti Khemani. 57. Our Parliament and Our Democracy -- Episode 253 of The Seen and the Unseen (w MR Madhavan). 58. Elite Imitation in Public Policy -- Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok). 59. Urban Governance in India -- Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 60. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri -- Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Abhinandan Sekhri). 61. The Tiebout Model. 62. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma. 63. Taxes Should Be Used for Governance, Not Politics -- Amit Varma. 64. The Effects of Democratization on Public Goods and Redistribution: Evidence from China -- Nancy Qian, Gerard Padró i Miquel, Monica Martinez-Bravo and Yang Yao. 65. Sneaky Artist Sees the World -- Episode 260 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nishant Jain). 66. Science and Covid-19 -- Episode 221 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Anirban Mahapatra). 66. Centrally Sponsored Government Schemes -- Episode 17 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane.). 67. India's states can be laboratories for policy innovation and reform -- Karthik Muralidharan. 68. Clientelism in Indian Villages -- Siwan Anderson, Patrick Francois, and Ashok Kotwal. 69. Patching Development -- Rajesh Veeraraghavan. 70. Opportunity, Choice and the IPL (2008) — Amit Varma. 71. The IPL is Here and Here Are Six Reasons to Celebrate It (2019) — Amit Varma. 72. Climate Change and Our Power Sector -- Episode 278 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshay Jaitley and Ajay Shah). 73. The Delhi Smog -- Episode 44 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 74. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy -- Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. 75. The Life and Times of Nirupama Rao -- Episode 269 of The Seen and the Unseen. 76. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande -- Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 77. Objects Speak to Annapurna Garimella -- Episode 257 of The Seen and the Unseen. 78. Letters for a Nation: From Jawaharlal Nehru to His Chief Ministers 1947-1963 -- Edited by Madhav Khosla. 79. To Raise a Fallen People -- Rahul Sagar. 80. The Progressive Maharaja -- Rahul Sagar. 81. India = Migration -- Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 82. India: A Sacred Geography -- Diana Eck. 83. Unlikely is Inevitable — Amit Varma. 84. The Law of Truly Large Numbers. 85. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! The illustration for this episode is by Nishant Jain aka Sneaky Artist. Check out his podcast, Twitter, Instagram and Substack.

Richard Mclean Giese, known professionally as Social Repose, is an American singer and YouTube personality. Music from Paul Niehaus in this episode. This episode is sponsored by Revolution Coffee: https://revolutioncoffeecompany.com/ and Delta Extrax: https://www.deltaextrax.com/

Paul is an economist and entrepreneur working to accelerate the end of extreme poverty. He is an associate professor of economics at UC San Diego. His research examines the design, implementation, and impact of anti-poverty programs at large scales.He is co-founder, former president, and current director at GiveDirectly, the leading international NGO specialized in digital cash transfers and consistently rated one of the most impactful ways to give. He subsequently co-founded and served as a director of the enterprise payments company Segovia (acquired) and the digital remittance company Taptap Send.Paul is a recipient of a Sloan Fellowship and has been named a “Top 100 Global Thinker” by Foreign Policy magazine. He holds a PhD in economics from Harvard University.Paul joins me and we talked about the opportunity to do so much good for just a little bit of money, how people living in extreme poverty choose to use their cash. We talk about the differences between for profit and nonprofit startups. We talk about the advantages to not being 100% committed into one thing, particularly when it's new or experimental, and he gives advice on a number of other issues.“The point though, I think still holds that you'd like for there to be some of that accountability to the people that we're trying to help. And not only to the people that are putting the money upfront, on the donor side.” Paul NiehausToday on Startups for Good we cover:Returns to quality in nonprofit vs. for profitEarn to giveMobile money providersSetting up teamsBalancing family, startups & academicsUniversal basic income experimentConnect with Paul on Twitter Subscribe, Rate & Share Your Favorite Episodes!Thanks for tuning into today's episode of Startups For Good with your host, Miles Lasater. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast listening app.Don't forget to visit our website, connect with Miles on Twitter or LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes across social media. For more information about The Giving Circle

Economic theory teaches that people make choices that provide them with the greatest benefit. So why not extend this idea to the realm of charity? Economists and social entrepreneurs Michael Faye and Paul Niehaus of GiveDirectly argue that giving people cash with no strings attached is the most cost-effective means of helping the poorest people in the world and their communities.

In the season finale of Giving Done Right season two, CEP's Phil and Grace talk with Paul Niehaus, co-founder and chairman of GiveDirectly. Paul discusses the power of direct cash transfers – how they work, why trusting those in need with cash can be extremely effective, and when certain issue areas might warrant a different philanthropic approach.

A bit ago I stopped in at Blue Lotus to meet up with my good friend Paul Niehaus and my new friend Bob Kamoske. These two have been working on recording a brand new album for Bob featuring 12 of his original songs. We talk about that process, stories behind some of the songs, give you a sneak peek at the album and play some live acoustic stuff! Don't miss the LOST TIME Album Release Party at Off Broadway on July 27th with special guest Miss Molly Simms. $10 tickets includes a copy of the album! On this episode you'll hear: Alley Ghost (Live from Blue Lotus) Lost Time Lie Lie Lie (Live from Blue Lotus) Sitting Back In The Gates of Eden Find more information by following Bob Kamoske on Facebook & Instagram!   

Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus of University of California, San Diego, argue that when we test things at a small scale, they might not be predictive of how they perform at a larger scale. Find out more at [VoxDev.org](https://voxdev.org/topic/methods-measurement/why-studies-should-be-conducted-larger-scale)

My guest today is Paul Niehaus IV, a musician, engineer, and producer born and raised in St Louis MO. Paul is the operator of Blue Lotus Studio, an audiophile-oriented recording studio in his basement in Saint Louis. He loves natural and hi-fidelity tones in the studio, and strives to cultivate an environment in which artists can get creative and be themselves. Paul has served on the Board of Directors for the Saint Louis Blues Society since 2014, and has produced three celebrated compilation albums for the group. He has also co-produced two permanent blues-oriented museum exhibits, one for the National Blues Museum (in STL) and one for the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Experience (Meridian, MS). In 2016 Paul founded the Blue Lotus record label, specializing in Soul, Blues, Folk, and Americana. it was his production of super groovy soul records with artists like Gene Jackson, and Ms Zeno The Mojo Queen that really caught my attention. Plus I am a big fan of anything cool happening in my home away from home St Louis MO. Hear more on Youtube If you love the podcast then please Leave a review on iTunes here Want to learn more about mixing? Get Free mix training with Lij at: http://MixMasterBundle.com CLICK HERE FOR SHOW NOTES AT: http://RSRockstars.com/158

This month the charity GiveDirectly will start giving thousands of Kenyans about a month’s salary, every month, for a decade or more --- with no strings attached. GiveDirectly co-founder Paul Niehaus discusses the sustainability of this project, why he chooses to give cash to poor people abroad rather than in the US, and the role of humility in aid work.

Even if you are a newbie in the humanitarian aid and development community, I'm willing to bet you've heard about cash. And, by cash, I mean the very-much-growing interest and support for providing assistance to those in need by giving them cash. The theory is simple: people in need of help, especially in situations of poverty and emergencies, know the specifics of their situation better than anyone and cash provides them the best tool to getting those needs met quickly. My guest for the 119th episode of the Terms of Reference Podcast is no newcomer to the cash discussion. Paul Niehaus is a co-founder and president of GiveDirectly, which is currently the top-rated nonprofit by GiveWell and ranked among the 25 most audacious companies (Inc) and 10 most innovative companies in finance (Fast Company). GiveDirectly is a recognized leader in the use of modern technology to transfer funds directly to the extreme poor, and in the use of rigorous scientific methods to document its impact.

Paul Niehaus is undertaking a radical experiment. His organization, Give Directly, wants to find out would happen if people living in extreme poverty were offered the guarantee of a basic income for ten to 15 years. They plan on launching an experiment in East Africa in which 6,000 people would be given, with no strings attached, enough money to pay for their basic needs over a long period of time.  The idea they seek to test is called the Universal Basic Income. There are some communities around the world that offer this in some form, but never before has this idea been tested over an extended period of time in the developing world.    Give Directly announced this new experiment a few weeks  ago and it's caught the attention of the international development community and those of us in the media who follow these things. Paul explains what they hope to accomplish with this experiment, how it will actually work, and what implications it has for the global effort to combat extreme poverty. 

What is the best way to help the poor? Giving money to charities and non-governmental organizations that then determine how the money should be allocated? Or giving cash directly to those who need it most and letting them decide how to spend it? Economist Paul Niehaus offers evidence that suggests direct cash transfers are more effective in reducing poverty, and describes GiveDirectly, a program he co-founded that allows donors to select recipients and transfer cash through mobile phones. Niehaus is presented as part of the “Degrees of Freedom” series at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Business] [Show ID: 29102]

What is the best way to help the poor? Giving money to charities and non-governmental organizations that then determine how the money should be allocated? Or giving cash directly to those who need it most and letting them decide how to spend it? Economist Paul Niehaus offers evidence that suggests direct cash transfers are more effective in reducing poverty, and describes GiveDirectly, a program he co-founded that allows donors to select recipients and transfer cash through mobile phones. Niehaus is presented as part of the “Degrees of Freedom” series at UC San Diego. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Business] [Show ID: 29102]

For nearly 60 years, donors have been partaking in a less-than-fantastic donation system. Traditionally, donors will give money to an international organization that manages money, which delivers economic relief to developing nations. However, this takes the relationship out of donating - donors can’t explicitly tell where their money is going or what their money is doing. For this reason, Paul Niehaus founded Give Directly - a nonprofit on a mission to simplify the donation process. At the core of Give Directly’s beliefs is that of the poor having an “enviable track record” of using capital to improve their lives. Paul describes studies in this podcast that have proved the poor are able to use donations extremely effectively - whether it be increasing nutrition, decreasing child labor, increasing education, or improving other sectors of life. Therefore, Give Directly offers a simpler, more personal route of donation - connecting donor to recipient. In this podcast, Paul discusses how technology, a commitment to efficiency, and dedication to improving the donation process on both ends, has made Give Directly a success. Paul Niehaus is a director and President of GiveDirectly. He is also Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego; a Junior Affiliate at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD); an Affiliate of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL); and an Affiliate at the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA). His research examines the design of welfare programs in developing countries, and in particular how to control corruption. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. https://ssir.org/podcasts/entry/helping_donors_give_directly_to_recipients