The other day, we heard from a Freakonomics radio listener named Thomas Appleton.

He had been talking with a friend about giving money to charity and he had this idea.

I was wondering what would be the socioeconomic effect if the 50 wealthiest Americans each

selected 50 media American families and gave each one a one-time gift of $50,000 and repeated

the process every year with new beneficiaries.

And what if these efforts were concentrated in, for instance, like some of the poorest neighborhoods

in Brooklyn?

So that's an interesting question.

In economic terms, Thomas is asking about the effects of a geographically concentrated,

one-time unconditional cash transfer and whether, for instance, it'll lead to real intergenerational

income mobility, although the way he put it is I admit much more exciting.

Alright then, why don't we try it?

Let's see.

50 families, $50,000 each, that's $2.5 million a year.

So who out there wants to fund our experiment?

Hello?

Anybody?

Nobody?

I guess this is what happens when you give your podcast away for free.

Nobody wants to pay for anything anymore.

Alright then, we'll just have to find another way to answer Thomas's question.

From WNYC, this is Freakonomics Radio.

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