Mayor Bloomberg Returns From The Pueblito With An Answer To Poverty

Yesterday, the city of New York announced the details of a 2-year pilot program designed to give cash incentives to 14,000 poor residents who engage in 'good behavior'--e.g., $200 for going to the doctor, $150 for being employed, and $300 for doing well in school, to name a few. In case you're wondering what kind of hat Mayor Michael Bloomberg pulled this rabbit out of, it's a sombrero: the venture is a product of the visit he and his administrators paid to the Mexican mountain town of Tepoztlán this April. There and in other pueblos, the prototype for the New York program has covered nearly a quarter of all Mexicans over a 10-year span on a $3 billion budget per year. (Dough for the experimental venture in New York has been privately raised, so put away your rants about 'the way they blow the people's hard-earned tax dollars these days'.) Go to school, get $25: cash for poor NYers with good behavior [NYPost]