A lot of political hay is being made lately on the subject of economic inequality, but Andrew Lilico says that it’s not all bad: Others will start telling you of the terrible social problems associated with inequality – the depression, violence, low life expectancy and so on. Well, insofar as these arise from poverty, we … Read more
Justin Taylor has a whole bunch of links and videos about ending poverty through (gasp!) capitalism. It’s not the most popular solution, because it puts the power in the hands of actual poor people instead of politicians, bureaucrats, and celebrities who like to talk about all the great charity work they do. Also, because it’s … Read more
Bjorn Lomborg is an environmentalist, so he believes a lot of the requisite environmentalist jibber-jabber. But he’s an environmentalist who can be reasoned with. Case in point, he realizes that people who have to burn dung for heat don’t need solar panels. They need cheap, reliable coal-fired electricity: For many parts of the world, fossil … Read more
Well, here’s an interesting take on all the Pope’s recent income inequality talk: By dwelling on inequality, the pope is promoting envy. The Catholic Church, I had always understood, disapproves of envy, deeming it one of the seven deadly sins. I would have expected Francis to urge people to think of themselves in relation to … Read more
Dave Ramsey, as Dave Ramsey does, recently published on his website a post that calls attention to the fact that people who are rich tend to share similar behavior patterns, and people who are poor tend to share similar behavior patterns. For instance: 70% of wealthy eat less than 300 junk food calories per day. … Read more
From Veronique de Rugy on the Corner, a little perspective on the prosperity we enjoy here in the US as compared to the rest of the world. Even our have-nots are haves: “…even the poorest 5 percent of Americans are among the richest people in the world — richer than nearly 68 percent of the world’s … Read more
Via the Corner, here’s a video from the American Enterprise Institute that demonstrates how free markets, private investment, and innovation (aka, capitalism) overcome poverty:
Do you want the people of the world to be happy and healthy? Give them free markets: When Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty, or give me death,” it was a revolutionary cry for freedom from British rule. Little did he know at the time that his words were prophetic because there is a strong … Read more
No matter how hard people may try to deny it: Coverage of the facts, by the knowledgeable reporter Jason DeParle, is solid. The problem is that single mothers are presented as victims of a tsunami of inequality that has little or nothing to do with their own behavior. The language is passive. Two-income families are … Read more
Why is it so hard to get that across to people? Well, here’s another try (via Powerline):
Christianity Today features a compellingly counter-intuitive take on the efficacy of Christian charity. In the post, author Mark Galli begins by pointing out the dramatic recent reductions in global poverty, and then takes a look at the causes: Not large donations, microenterprise programs, or child sponsorship, but rather sheer economic growth, has effected this change. With massive … Read more