We used to be trapped. And by 'we,' I really do mean all of us. A few hundred years ago, the majority of the world lived in extreme poverty, and even in recent decades, people lucky enough to clear the $2.15-per-day threshold were living lives that others in the developed world would find unrecognizable. On this episode of Good on Paper, we're going to talk about how this all happened. Today's guest is Paul Niehaus, an economist and co-founder of the NGO GiveDirectly. His new paper details what actually happened in the lives of people who escaped extreme poverty since the early 1980s. As he and his co-authors write, by 'how' they mean: 'Did they plant a new cash crop on their farm' Find work in a factory' Start their own business' Move to a city'' And further, what happened across the life of one person, versus what happened between cohorts or generations' 'There's no one story,' Niehaus tells me. 'As an author, it would've been nice if there was a very simple story to tell, which...
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