Chris Blattman on Development, Conflict, and Doing What’s Interesting

Conversations with Tyler

Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2018

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chris Blattman’s made his career as a development economist by finding a place he likes and finding a reason to live there. Not a bad strategy considering the impact of the work he’s done in Liberia, Uganda, and most recently, Colombia. He joins Tyler to talk about what he’s learned from his work there, including the efficacy of cash transfers, the spread of violence and conflict, factory jobs as a social safety net, Botswana’s underappreciated growth miracle, Battlestar Galactica, standing desks, how to write papers with your spouse, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded February 8th, 2018

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University,
0:08.3	bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems.
0:12.5	Learn more at mercatis.org.
0:15.2	And for more conversations, including videos, transcripts, and upcoming dates, visit
0:20.4	ConversationsWithTyler.com.
0:22.4	Today, I am with Chris Blatman, economist, and he is at the Harris Public Policy School in
0:36.2	Chicago.
0:37.4	Chris has worked on most of the central issues behind economic development.
0:42.1	Thank you for coming, Chris.
0:43.4	Thank you.
0:44.4	I want to start first with your work on cash transfers.
0:47.2	So say I have some extra money, and I want to do the world some good.
0:50.8	And I'm thinking, should I just send money to some individuals in a poorer country, go
0:55.5	to the Western Union office, and send it off?
0:58.3	Is that the best thing I can do with my money?
1:00.4	I think if you don't know anybody in a deserving of help or that needs something, or if you
1:05.6	don't have a personal connection to a place as an impersonal way to give effectively,
1:10.6	it's probably the best way we have.
1:12.6	I don't do really any of that myself.
1:15.0	Before I do, but I'm sending cash transfers in some sense to very specific people.
1:18.6	There's very dynamic people I know who are getting through university or going through
1:23.4	school, but I have this advantage of these personal connections.
	...

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