127. Rajiv Shah Never Wastes a Crisis

After Haiti’s devastating earthquake, Rajiv Shah headed the largest humanitarian effort in U.S. history. As chief economist of the Gates Foundation he tried to immunize almost a billion children. He tells Steve why it’s important to take big gambles, follow the data, and own up to your mistakes. SOURCE : Rajiv Shah , president of the Rockefeller Foundation. RESOURCES: Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens , by Rajiv Shah (2023). " The Root of Haiti’s Misery: Reparations to Enslavers ," by Catherine Porter, Constant Méheut, Matt Apuzzo, and Selam Gebrekidan ( The New York Times, 2022). " Testing Is Our Way Out ," by Paul Romer and Rajiv Shah ( The Wall Street Journal, 2020). " How to Get Millions of People to Take Coronavirus Tests and Stay Home if They're Positive ," by Steven Levitt, Paul Romer, and Jeff Severts ( USA Today, 2020). " Haiti In Ruins: A Look Back At The 2010 Earthquake ," by The Picture Show (2020). " Vaccine for a Global Childhood Illness Passes Last Big Hurdle ," ( The New York Times, 1997). EXTRAS : " Dambisa Moyo Says Foreign Aid Can’t Solve Problems, but Maybe Corporations Can ," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021). " Moncef Slaoui: 'It’s Unfortunate T…