News
National Journal | What the 50-Year War on Poverty Tells Us About Government
Even during Johnson’s presidency, critics wondered if the “war” was purely rhetorical. Those with an eye to the future worried that Johnson signed two fateful pieces of legislation in August of 1964—the Economic Opportunity Act that set the War on Poverty in motion, and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that concretized America’s costly commitment to Vietnam.
CNN Money | De Blasio's plan to tax the rich
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has drawn national attention with his progressive agenda, a key piece of which is to push for higher taxes on the rich to pay for early education and after-school programs.
Bloomberg | Unforeseen U.S. Oil Boom Upends Markets as Drilling Spreads
The U.S. oil boom has put European refineries out of business and undercut West African crude suppliers. Now domestic drillers threaten to roil Asian markets and challenge producers in the Middle East and South America.
Market Watch | The death of America is greatly exaggerated
In a 2011 article, Michael Beckley, a former research fellow in the International Security Program at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs, concluded that, based on economic, technological and military indicators, America was wealthier, more innovative and more militarily powerful compared to China than it had been in 1991.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Times | After 50 years of failure, have we learned nothing?
Fifty years ago on Wednesday, President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his State of the Union address before Congress, announced that “this administration, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.” Mind you, this statement came four months before Johnson introduced his Great Society program that “asks not only how much, but how good; not only how to create wealth, but how to use it; not only how fast we are going, but where we are headed. It proposes as the first test for a nation: the quality of its people.”
Bloomberg | IMF Plans to Raise Global Economic Growth Forecast, Lagarde Says
The International Monetary Fund will raise its forecast for world growth, Managing Director Christine Lagarde said, underscoring confidence in the global recovery as the outlook for the U.S. improves.
CATO | War on Poverty at 50 — Despite Trillions Spent, Poverty Won
Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson delivered his first State of the Union address, promising an “unconditional war on poverty in America.” Looking at the wreckage since, it’s not hard to conclude that poverty won.
WSJ | How the War on Poverty Was Lost
On Jan. 8, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson used his State of the Union address to announce an ambitious government undertaking. "This administration today, here and now," he thundered, "declares unconditional war on poverty in America."
Washington Times | ‘Economic fairness’ didn’t work for Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot
President Obama and the Democrats desperately need a political issue to distract struggling, jobless Americans from their economic misery. They think “income inequality” and raising the minimum wage is the answer to their problems.
U.S. Census Bureau | Census Bureau Reports Almost One in Three Americans Were Poor at Least Two Months from 2009 to 2011
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 31.6 percent of Americans were in poverty for at least two months from 2009 to 2011, a 4.5 percentage point increase over the prerecession period of 2005 to 2007. Poverty was a temporary state for most people; however, 3.5 percent of Americans were in poverty for the entire three-year period.
AEI | Why do liberals like second-best policies for the poor?
In his most recent Sunday New York Times column, Harvard economist Greg Mankiw outlined two ways to help boost the incomes of the working poor
Blogs
WSJ | 1-in-3 People Experienced Poverty From 2009 to 2011
Americans often see poverty in stark terms — you’re either poor, and likely to remain so, or you’re not. But the latest government numbers show how much people slip in and out of poverty, and highlight a startling truth: A great many of us become poor at some point.
Heritage Foundation | How to Fight Poverty -- and Win
When President Johnson launched the War on Poverty on Jan. 8, 1964, he pledged “not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it.” Sadly, the half-century legacy of Johnson’s Great Society has not lived up to that noble goal.
