Different ideas Quote by Rutger Bregman
““Or take school attendance. Everybody seems to have different ideas on how to raise it. We should pay for uniforms. Advance school fees on credit. Offer free meals. Install toilets. Raise public awareness of the value of education. Hire more teachers. And on and on. All of these suggestions sound perfectly logical. Thanks to RCTs, however, we know that $100 worth of free meals translates into an additional 2.8 years of educational attainment – three times as much as free uniforms. Speaking of proven impact, deworming children with intestinal complaints has been shown to yield 2.9 years of additional schooling for the absurdly small investment of $10 worth of treatment. No armchair philosopher could have predicted that, but since this finding was revealed, tens of millions of children have been dewormed.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Lecture on Education Policy, 2022
Evidence shows small investments like deworming yield far greater educational returns than larger, intuitive programs.
In simple terms: Small health interventions boost schooling more than big programs.
Key Takeaway
Invest in proven, low‑cost health solutions.
Themes
education
public health
policy
effectiveness
economics
Mood
analytical
optimistic
pragmatic
Type
explanatory
informative
When to use this quote
- school budgeting
- public health planning
- NGO strategy
Key Concepts
cost‑effectiveness
randomized trials
resource allocation
Questions to Reflect On
- What low‑cost interventions could be scaled?
- How to ensure equitable distribution?
A Different Perspective
Assumes uniform implementation; cultural factors may vary impact.
