"In contrast, a recent effort in South Africa to teach financial literacy through an engaging television soap opera improved the financial choices that individuals made. Financial messages were embedded in a soap opera about a financially reckless character. Households that watched the soap opera for two months were less likely to gamble and less likely to purchase goods through an expensive installment plan."

This passage shows the powerful influence of something as simple as a soap opera on financial behavior. Simply putting the narrative of someone with poor financial management can help people improve theirs (as it is factored in their automatic thinking). Things like these don't have a very tangible output, so it may be hard to track, but it is a very interesting insight which has good potential for change in the future. This connects to the text as it shows how poor peoples decisions are easily influenced and that putting messages into their heads can influence their economic choices.

"Human sociality (the tendency of people to be concerned with and associate with each other) adds a layer of complexity and realism to the analysis of human decision making and behavior. Because many economic policies assume individuals are self-regarding, autonomous decision makers, these policies often focus on external material incentives, like prices."

Why does assuming people are self-regarding and autonomous overlook the social and psychological influences of poverty? How can policy makers even take into account social aspects given they are fairly intangible (compared to prices at least)?

This relates to our inquiry question as it talks about oversights of policy makers which influence the decisions people in poverty make.

"In Kenya, many households report a lack of cash as an impediment to investing in preventive health products, such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets. However, by providing people with a lockable metal box, a padlock, and a passbook that a household simply labels with the name of a preventive health product, researchers increased savings, and investment in these products rose by 66–75 percent"

Through this passage, the author shows how poverty shapes individual economic choices by highlighting barriers that prevent low-income individuals in Kenya to make good financial decisions. A lack of savings can make people not buy preventive products, despite the need. By just providing a box it can mentally help people allocate funds. This shows that even a minor non-physical adjustment in the environment can significantly influence behaviors. Poverty doesn't just reduce resources, it reduces the ability to manage resources, which shape different choices,