A letter from Supreet Kaur

What is poverty? Is it simply a low standard of living? What if poverty affects your brain and behavior so much that it is impossible to escape without help?

These are the questions I ask through my research on poverty and economic development at Berkeley Economics.

In a lecture on the psychology of poverty a couple of months ago, I shared some of my research with our community of students and alumni (life-long learners!). In my talk, I showed how poverty—whether in the US or developing countries—is not just a result of a lack of capital or education. 

At Berkeley, we have built an R&D lab for anti-poverty policy. We take core insights from psychology and apply them in research that is transforming our understanding of why it is difficult to escape poverty.

Using these insights, we design specific and actionable policy interventions that have the potential to drastically improve productivity and economic outcomes. We go out into the world and implement these interventions, rigorously evaluate their impacts, and then work with policymakers to scale them up. 

It’s not an exaggeration to say that this work could not exist without the support of our donors and alumni. But your support goes deeper than that – thanks to philanthropic support, we have built an academic community with some of the best thinkers in every area of economics: an intellectual environment that inspires me every day in my own work, and allows us to attract the top PhD students with which we collaborate on the next great research coming out of Berkeley Economics. They need your support, too! 

Will you consider making a gift today? Every amount makes a difference and helps us support, retain, and attract top students and faculty.

When you support the work coming from Berkeley Economics you are backing pioneering, status-quo-breaking research that has direct implications for improving financial stability, fostering upward mobility, and designing policies that better serve the needs of diverse populations.

When you make a gift to Berkeley Economics, you're giving back to a department and people that have made a difference in your life. 

Make a difference today by making a gift.

With thanks,

Supreet Kaur
Associate Professor of Economics
Department of Economics, UC Berkeley