Poor Policy

by Schansberg, D. Eric

• ISBN13: 9780813328249
• ISBN10: 0813328241
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-04-01
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

Challenging the conventional approach most "poverty" books take - a focus on how government attempts to assist the poor with welfare programs - D. Eric Schansberg instead presents in this volume a dynamic and timely alternative to the idea. Using public choice economics, he illustrates how special interest groups advocate policies that benefit themselves but inadvertently hurt the poor. The author demonstrates how this inequity occurs in both product and labor markets - from farm subsidies to protectionist trade policies, from drug prohibition to the government's provision of public education.
In addition, Schansberg provides the reader with a thorough analysis of welfare policies, focusing on the intractable problems built into the current system. He then argues for radical welfare reform advocating case-by-case solutions centered on "tough love" and to the extent possible, private charities. The author also provides statistical information on income distribution and redistribution, a discussion of discrimination, and a section devoted to international policy issues.

Author Biography

D. Eric Schansberg is assistant professor of economics at Indiana University-Southeast.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. xi
An Introduction to Poverty and Redistribution	p. 1
Measuring Poverty: Who's Poor?	p. 3
Notes	p. 12
Government as Robin Hood: Taxing the Rich and Redistributing to the Poor	p. 15
Notes	p. 22
Discrimination: a Primary or Secondary Cause of Poverty?	p. 24
Notes	p. 32
How the Government Hurts the Poor	p. 35
Reversing Robin Hood: How to Transfer Income to the Non-Poor	p. 37
Notes	p. 45
Redistributing Income Through Product Markets: Increasing Prices for the Poor	p. 47
Notes	p. 53
The Minimum Wage: Locking Unskilled Workers Out of the Labor Market	p. 55
Notes	p. 61
Other Labor Market Interventions: Locking Out Relatively Unskilled Workers	p. 63
Notes	p. 70
Other Types of Redistribution to the Non-Poor: Let Me Count the Ways . .	p. 72
Notes	p. 81
Mandating a Pathetic Level of Education: a Way to Ensure Lifetime Poverty	p. 84
Notes	p. 94
Prohibition Ii: the Sequel	p. 97
Notes	p. 104
Where They Live and Breathe: Government Policy in the Markets for Housing and Health	p. 106
Notes	p. 114
How Government Tries to Help the Poor	p. 117
The Historical Role of Ideology in Efforts to Fight Poverty	p. 119
Notes	p. 125
Equit.Versus Efficiency: the Costs of Pursuing Income Equality	p. 127
Notes	p. 137
Still Losing Ground	p. 142
Notes	p. 149
Local and Voluntary Versus Federal and Bureaucratic	p. 151
Notes	p. 159
Religion and Poverty	p. 161
Notes	p. 171
Fixing Welfare: Take It Behind the Barn . .	p. 174
Notes	p. 185
Myths and Causes of Poverty Around the World	p. 189
The Cause and Effect of Population, Resources, and Food	p. 191
Notes	p. 198
Foreign Aid: Stepping Stone or Stumbling Block?	p. 200
Notes	p. 210
The Road to Recovery: Get Government (mostly) Out of the Way	p. 213
Notes	p. 223
Conclusion	p. 226
Notes	p. 233
Selected Bibliography	p. 235
About the Book and Author	p. 239
Index	p. 240
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