Good discussion of the dynamics of transient poverty vs persistent poverty, issues with The System and how hard it is to change, whether education helps, and the creation of “good jobs.”
Recommend. [Link]
Our attempts to transfer money to quote “fight poverty,” have been, I’d say, a very mixed bag. We can alleviate suffering, which is important, through spending. But I think part that’s challenging here is, are people who are poor are just like people who aren’t poor but they just have less money?
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The people who are persistently poor, who struggle to integrate into the economy, I’m not sure money is the thing they need the most. It might be good for them, they might be happy to have it, it might be a good idea for a lot of reasons, but it’s not the only thing that’s wrong… I just don’t think that money is the essence of the issue.
Russ Roberts
See also:
Econtalk: Mauricio Miller on Poverty, Social Work, and the Alternative