Money for Nothing

This Ford Lecture in Human Development will be preceded by the bestowing of the Ford Family Notre Dame Award for International Development and Solidarity on Paul Niehaus. 

Paul Niehaus
Co-founder and Director of GiveDirectly
Chancellor’s Associate Endowed Chair in Economics, University of California, San Diego
Distinguished Recipient of the Ford Family Notre Dame Award

Is it nuts to give money to the poor with no strings attached? And if not, why? This lecture charts GiveDirectly's journey from a controversial idea to a billion dollars delivered, examining what 24 randomized controlled trials revealed along the way about poverty, human agency, and the assumptions implicit in international development. Beyond the economics lies a deeper argument—that program evaluation is never truly neutral, and that choosing which questions to ask is itself an ethical act.

Paul Niehaus is the co-founder of GiveDirectly and Segovia, and an economics faculty member at UC San Diego. His work focuses on using technology and rigorous scientific methods to improve social programming in emerging markets, specifically in India. Paul holds a PhD from Harvard and has been recognized by Fast Company, Inc., and Foreign Policy for his innovative leadership in finance and global development.