Category:Poverty & Inequality
Why is Latin America so corrupt?
April 28, 2021 | Video
Ahead of his panel on Corruption and Poverty in Latin America at LibertyCon Europe, Juan Carlos Hidalgo, former policy analyst at the Cato Institute talks about why Latin America has so many cases of corruption, the recent protests in Chile and other countries around the world.
Is It Unfair to Pay CEOs Billions? Q&A with Prof. Howie Baetjer
January 29, 2018 | Video
Is it fair that CEOs get paid millions—even billions—while there are so many people still in poverty? Well, it depends! Watch the second entry in our question and answer series with Prof. Howie Baetjer.
Economic Freedom by the Numbers
October 30, 2017 | Video
What’s the evidence that economic freedom is beneficial for society? Prof. Antony Davies shows charts of the free market’s effects on unemployment, inequality, poverty, and even child labor.
What most Americans have never heard about extreme poverty
September 13, 2017 | Post
Why did poverty decrease so much over the past 200 years, and especially over the past 30 years? Let’s look at one key example; then we’ll zoom out to the broader research.
An Alternative to Welfare
August 21, 2017 | Video
Today’s welfare system discourages aspiring for the American dream. What if we tried a universal basic income instead? Watch the full interview with Prof. Munger
Expert Answers on the Drug War: Highlights from Prof. Jeff Miron's AMA
August 15, 2017 | Post
Last week, Professor Jeffrey Miron joined us on Reddit for an “Ask Me Anything” conversation as part of the Learn Liberty Reddit AMA Series. The conversation focused on Dr. Miron’s 30+ years of study on the effects of drug criminalization. Check out some of the highlights below. GPSBach While there seems to be an emerging consensus on […]
The Myth of Equality in the 1950s
August 9, 2017 | Video
Why do people keep saying the ‘50s were more “equal” than today? Perhaps they forget how many people were in poverty — or what the major unions did to African-Americans.
Capitalism could save lives with the most boring innovation of all
August 8, 2017 | Post
A combination of drought, political instability and poor policies is threatening the lives of thousands. Fortunately, for some herders, insurance products are helping to make a desperate situation a little bit better.
The Unprecedented Equality of the 21st Century
August 7, 2017 | Video
The rich get richer, and the poor get … cell phones, cars, and nice TVs? Prof. Mike Munger says we’re actually more equal than ever. Click to watch the full interview.
Why I deserve what you created: word count welfare
June 16, 2017 | Post
I am furious. I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and learned that my friend Steve Horwitz had written almost 3,000 words in a single day in his new book chapter on inequality.
Suffering is Venezuela’s new normal.
May 27, 2017 | Post
Venezuela is an unfolding story of the chaos resulting from government intervention in economic affairs. President Maduro faces a political crisis, and violent protests pose real threats to his desperate attempts to retain power. The economy is collapsing in front of our eyes, but the real tragedy is not the macro indicators that we read […]
Income Inequality or Income Mobility: For What Should We Fight?
April 5, 2017 | Post
The rapid decline of poverty over the past forty years shows that there has never been more hope for rising incomes among the poor. We can help them best by promoting mobility through economic freedom.
Why libertarians should oppose the Universal Basic Income
March 24, 2017 | Post
Here’s my opening statement for my Students for Liberty debate with Will Wilkinson. Enjoy. Libertarians have a standard set of fundamental criticisms of the welfare state. Forced charity is unjust. Individuals have a moral right to decide if and when they want to help others. Forced charity is unnecessary. In a free market, voluntary donations […]
The less work required, the happier we’ll be
March 8, 2017 | Post
Jobs are the means, not the ends in themselves.
Why aid programs are harder to evaluate than dessert shops
February 22, 2017 | Post
Recently, at a Center for Global Development conference, attendees criticized a wide swath of development programs that, these experts say, provide no evidence they are achieving their objectives.
The many faces of means-testing
February 19, 2017 | Post
Isn’t a Universal Basic Income just another name for a negative income tax, such as Tax = -$10,000 + .3*Income? If so, isn’t a Universal Basic Income means-tested by definition?
Better market-oriented proposals that reduce income inequality
February 15, 2017 | Post
I was initially excited to see that progressive Dean Baker has written a piece on “Eight Market-Oriented Proposals That Reduce Income Inequality” for AEI. It begins promisingly by criticizing overly strict occupational licensing for high-skilled workers. But it then studiously avoids the really big wins. Namely: 1. Immigration. High-skilled immigration reduces conventionally measured inequality by […]
The Racist Origin of the Minimum Wage — Deirdre McCloskey
February 13, 2017 | Video
Minimum wage laws were invented to protect the “Anglo-Saxon” race from competition. Prof. Deirdre McCloskey explains the authoritarian roots of Progressivism.
Explaining the Protectionist Instinct
February 10, 2017 | Post
One of the gravest economic mistakes that humans can make is to forget that ours is unavoidably a world of scarcity.
America changed, and the Rust Belt failed to adapt
January 27, 2017 | Post
On Friday, January 20, 2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. His victory in the 2016 election was a surprise to many, and his success in the so called Rust Belt made it happen. Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania all went to Trump, something that hadn’t happened for a Republican […]
How school vouchers can help children with disabilities
January 26, 2017 | Post
Last week, Douglas County went in front of the U.S. Supreme Court because the family of Endrew F., a fifth grade student with autism, sued it for refusing to give Endrew a voucher to attend a school to meet his unique educational needs.
Commerce is pointing the way to a more peaceful and prosperous Cuba.
January 23, 2017 | Post
Commerce brings out the best in human beings by providing incentives to care about others. Those who can’t rise above focusing on their short-term narrow needs have little ability to meet the needs of others.
Over-Criminalization Nation — 5 Blood-Boiling Cases of Government Overreach
December 28, 2016 | Post
Every year the number of regulations, dictates, rules, decrees, guidelines, statutes, laws, and bylaws in the United States grows by leaps and bounds.
Is culture the key to poverty?
December 20, 2016 | Post
A personal story about Vance’s climb from poor, white Appalachia to a Yale law degree and a white-collar career, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis will make you laugh, cry, and think carefully about the importance of culture for economic wellbeing.