{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-post-query-tsx","path":"/blog-post/on-what-doesnt-happen/","result":{"pageContext":{"post":{"slug":"/blog-post/on-what-doesnt-happen/","title":"On what doesn't happen","date":"Sep 16, 2012","timeToRead":1,"description":"","body":"function _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsxRuntime classic */\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"title\": \"On what doesn't happen\",\n  \"date\": \"2012-09-16\",\n  \"template\": \"post\",\n  \"slug\": \"on-what-doesnt-happen\",\n  \"postedLink\": \"https://riceinstitute.org/blog/on-what-doesnt-happen/\",\n  \"old-tags\": [\"corruption\", \"government-inaction\", \"philanthropy\"],\n  \"description\": \"\",\n  \"tags\": \"Blog Post\",\n  \"banner\": \"\"\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n      props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, [\"components\"]);\n\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Today's \", mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"New York Times\"), \" has an op-ed about India reminding us that our intuition isn't always right about what's going to help poor people. This important fact merits rehearsal.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The article is, of course, imperfect: to fit into a newspaper column the article oversimplifies, and it too often suggests without evidence that top politicians could change something or other if they were sufficiently commited to doing so.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"That said, the article gets two big things right. First, it highlights the link between bad behavior and bad incentives, both for government bureaucrats and for poor citizens: \\\"there\\u2019s neither an incentive to take responsibility nor repercussions for not doing so. People don\\u2019t do the right thing because it\\u2019s easy not to, and there\\u2019s no reward for doing it.\\\" Second, it reminds us that the important forms of \\\"corruption\\\" or government failure might not be theft or bribes; they might be simply doing nothing.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Read more: \\\"\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/opinion/sunday/for-indias-children-philanthropy-isnt-enough.html\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"For India\\u2019s Children, Philanthropy Isn\\u2019t Enough\"), \"\\\" by \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Faleiro\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Sonia Faleiro\"), \".\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","tags":[{"name":"Blog Post","slug":"blog-post"}],"banner":null}}},"staticQueryHashes":["318001574","3787687951","3787687951"]}