Want to help some poor people? Here is a novel idea: Just give them some money!

Hey, guess what? They didn't waste it on grog or ciggies. According to this Washington Post report, it got spent locally on meaningful stuff, giving the local economy an unexpectedly huge boost. This was in Kenya, of course. Could such a thing work here? I have no idea but it provides a refreshing counter to the usual right-wing reactionary bla bla about beneficiaries and how they are all just hanging out to take unfair advantage of the largess of the overburdened hard-working taxpayer. Not everyone who is poor is a lazy no-good layabout, it seems:

"One by one, the prejudices against direct cash transfers to the very poor have fallen, as research shows the myths about the indolent poor are just that: myths. As the doubts clear, more and more actors in international development need to come around to the insight that the simplest, cleanest intervention often has the greatest effect."