Watch an economics professor explain foreign aid in 101 seconds

Edward Miguel, the son of immigrants from Uruguay and Poland, knew from an early age that his life in the U.S. was different from those of his family members around the world. 

“I got a chance to see how my relatives lived in South America and Eastern Europe,” Miguel recalls. “They were a lot poorer than us here in the U.S., and that made me wonder why, and what could be done about it.”

Miguel, faculty co-director of the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) and a professor of economics at UC Berkeley, has made it his life’s work to figure out how to improve the lives of some of the poorest people on earth. 

As he explains in this 101 in 101 video, a series from Berkeley that challenges campus experts to distill their work into a mere 101 seconds, foreign aid often benefits the poorest, but it can also protect wealthier countries.

Take spending on controlling and tracking infectious diseases. 

“That can directly benefit us here in rich countries like the United States,” says Miguel. “Because then we’re going to be less prone to experiencing disease outbreaks that spread.”

Miguel often takes a data-driven approach to assessing novel forms of foreign aid. He recently published a study that shows how giving poor households in Kenya no-strings-attached cash can lead to more robust economies — and more promisingly, fewer children dying.

“The households that receive cash actually have much better rates of child survival,” says Miguel. “If you have cash in hand as a poor household, you can access better health services. You can deliver your baby in a hospital.”

Watch the video to learn more about Miguel and CEGA’s work and scholarship to alleviate global poverty. 

Watch more 101 in 101 videos featuring UC Berkeley faculty and experts.