Call me a lousy photographer and an econ geek if you must, but I get all excited when I see good economics on display in public!

This beautifully photographed sign shows the City of Milwaukee demonstrating its understanding that people respond to incentives and also the reality that people’s actions often result in unintended consequences.

Guess what Milwaukee figured out?  When people give away cash on the streets, it sometimes attracts people with fabricated stories of woe, who use people’s good will against them to take their money.  That’s kinda theft and not so great for your town.  Also, people who might do better with the structured help of a homeless shelter or other charity often use money from panhandling to keep themselves away from those situations.

Kudos to Milwaukee for understanding, going to the trouble of posting signs and giving generous people who want to help another idea of how to do it!