Karen Duffin

I imagine people, you know, put down their government brewed coffee and start raising their hands. Like, why are we doing this? Our job is to move people into housing, period. Now HUD is basically asking them to reverse that, to move people out.

Mark and the people running this meeting, they're like, yeah, I know. But now our job is to move people to opportunity. You know, the government spends money across all kinds of programs just trying to improve people's lives like give them better education or health or increase their income.

Mark and the people running this meeting, they're like, yeah, I know. But now our job is to move people to opportunity. You know, the government spends money across all kinds of programs just trying to improve people's lives like give them better education or health or increase their income.

Mark and the people running this meeting, they're like, yeah, I know. But now our job is to move people to opportunity. You know, the government spends money across all kinds of programs just trying to improve people's lives like give them better education or health or increase their income.

And the big idea that they want to test is can we improve all of those things and more all at once just by moving a family somewhere new? But, of course, to get the government to give money, you have to prove that it works.

And the big idea that they want to test is can we improve all of those things and more all at once just by moving a family somewhere new? But, of course, to get the government to give money, you have to prove that it works.

And the big idea that they want to test is can we improve all of those things and more all at once just by moving a family somewhere new? But, of course, to get the government to give money, you have to prove that it works.

You know, control group, independent variable. We will run an actual scientific experiment and we'll track the data for decades.

You know, control group, independent variable. We will run an actual scientific experiment and we'll track the data for decades.

You know, control group, independent variable. We will run an actual scientific experiment and we'll track the data for decades.

Can changing someone's address change their life? The answer to that seems very obvious. But this experiment did not at all go as planned.

Can changing someone's address change their life? The answer to that seems very obvious. But this experiment did not at all go as planned.

Can changing someone's address change their life? The answer to that seems very obvious. But this experiment did not at all go as planned.

Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Karen Duffin. Today on the show, we are riding a social policy roller coaster. Alongside the researchers who ran this experiment and the people they tested it on, people who were not always excited to be experimented on, it is a quest to make the American dream a reality. A quest that economists thought failed, but is in the midst of an unexpected revival.

Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Karen Duffin. Today on the show, we are riding a social policy roller coaster. Alongside the researchers who ran this experiment and the people they tested it on, people who were not always excited to be experimented on, it is a quest to make the American dream a reality. A quest that economists thought failed, but is in the midst of an unexpected revival.

Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Karen Duffin. Today on the show, we are riding a social policy roller coaster. Alongside the researchers who ran this experiment and the people they tested it on, people who were not always excited to be experimented on, it is a quest to make the American dream a reality. A quest that economists thought failed, but is in the midst of an unexpected revival.

Mark and this tiny band of public housing staff leave that conference room, go forth from D.C., and start signing up tenants. The way it worked was this. Tenants from the five chosen cities would be assigned by lottery to one of three groups. Like any good experiment, there would be a control group. This group already lives in public housing and they would stay in public housing.

Mark and this tiny band of public housing staff leave that conference room, go forth from D.C., and start signing up tenants. The way it worked was this. Tenants from the five chosen cities would be assigned by lottery to one of three groups. Like any good experiment, there would be a control group. This group already lives in public housing and they would stay in public housing.

Mark and this tiny band of public housing staff leave that conference room, go forth from D.C., and start signing up tenants. The way it worked was this. Tenants from the five chosen cities would be assigned by lottery to one of three groups. Like any good experiment, there would be a control group. This group already lives in public housing and they would stay in public housing.

So no change to group one. Group two would get a regular Section 8 voucher. This is the rent subsidy that they can theoretically use with any landlord who will take it. And group three, this group is the experimental group.