This week is one of big announcements - the latest research on unconditional cash transfers made a splash in the media, the World Bank released its annual Doing Business report, and I am launching my month-long Sorry, Cash Only project. I encourage our readers to follow my adventures of a peek into a cash-only economy on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
- IPA released a policy brief showing initial (encouraging) results of its evaluation of Give Directly’s cash transfer program in Kenya. While many bloggers and news outlets covered the announcement, this piece from The Economist offers a succinct look at the CCT/UCT debate. and
- FAI affiliate Ignacio Mas offers a borderline sci-fi blog post as he speculates whether cash will disappear or we will move to a world of “smart notes.”
- Recently, the book Scarcity provided a deep dive into the impact of poverty on the way we think and act. New research is building on those ideas and shows that poverty can cause long-lasting changes in the structure of our brains.
- Ukraine is the most improved economy and Singapore is the easiest place to conduct business according to the World Bank, which released its annual Doing Business report on entrepreneurship and regulations.
- Over at the Why Nations Fail blog, Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson take a different view on Karlan, et al.’s paper on the economic returns of cows in rural India, looking at the phenomenon through a social and institutional (rather than purely economic) lens.
- CGAP reveals the practicalities of implementing mobile payments through the story of Mushtaque, a rickshaw driver in Bangladesh, and his challenges in using mobile wallet products.
- The New York City Housing Authority announced it will provide bank kiosks that look like ATMs to allow unbanked residents more convenient locations to make rent and bill payments.
Editor’s Note: I’m going to assume that you are seeing plenty of AI content (news and papers, not AI slop, though I’m sure you’re getting plenty of that too) from other sources, so I’m trying to think hard about the marginal value that the faiV can provide. As far as I’ve gotten so far: a) make sure that directly AI-related content does not take up more than 2 of the 5 items, and b) try to focus specifically on the cybersecurity issue for financial inclusion. Beyond that, I’m open to feedback on the value you get from the faiV in relation to AI to help guide us in the future. On a different note, I’ll be making a brief cameo appearance at the e-MFP Inclusive Finance Conference to moderate the opening plenary. If you haven’t registered, do so and I hope to see you there! - Tim Ogden