Howard Schneider — Want to end poverty? Brazil’s answer: Give people money

Brazil confronted a similar political landscape when it began discussing a broad assault on poverty more than a decade ago. The poor were predominantly black, clustered in the north, and uneducated. There were strong arguments that simply giving away money would be a massive rip-off for taxpayers.

Plunged into the usual moral thicket, the response was simple: forget about all that. Though controversial, the government a decade ago decided that any family under the poverty line would be given enough money to put them over it.

The transfers, which now go to 14 million people, has helped decrease income inequality in the country – incomes for the poorest are growing faster than Brazil’s top earners.

The Washington Post — Wonkblog
Want to end poverty? Brazil’s answer: Give people money
Howard Schneider