If you ask owners why they keep an unfinished house, they generally have a simple answer: This is how they save.

voucher privatization—the

The family is bound together then, not in perfect harmony or by the ability to always divide up resources and responsibilities efficiently, but by a very incomplete, very coarse, and often very loose “contract” that defines the responsibilities of each member toward the other members.

For the poor, risk is not limited to income or food: Health, which we discussed in a previous chapter, is one major source of risk. There is also political violence, crime (as in the case of Ibu Tina’s daughter), and corruption.

their lives could be significantly improved by making it as easy as possible to do the right thing—based on everything else we know—using the power of default options and small nudges:

this whole book is in the form of an extended answer.

A year’s supply of the fish sauce cost $7 USD PPP, and for a self-employed male, the yearly gain in earnings was $46 USD PPP—an excellent investment.

reorganizing the curriculum and the classrooms to allow children to learn at their own pace, and in particular to make sure the children who are lagging behind can focus on the basics.

What does someone who cannot read make of a health insurance product that doesn’t cover a lot of unpronounceable diseases? It means going to vote when your entire experience of the political system is a lot of promises, not delivered; and not having anywhere safe to keep your money, because what the bank manager can make from your little savings