A recent article in the Atlantic details an anti-poverty program recently designed by four graduate students. The program is designed to funnel cash as efficiently as possible to poor people in Kenya. If the Atlantic article is to be believed, its initial results are promising. This comes as no particular surprise for me: I have… Continue reading Cash transfers and ideology
Author: Matt Bruenig
Fun 1950s capitalist propaganda
The above video is one you see excerpted quite a bit in films and television when points about capitalism or the American economic system are being made. It is a fascinating film on many fronts, but two stand out for me. First, bits of it are completely vacuous. It is one thing to provide arguments… Continue reading Fun 1950s capitalist propaganda
The Impact of Fallin’s Medicaid Decision
So Mary Fallin has this thing she does where she forgets that she is governing a state, and pretends instead that she is a national political actor whose job should primarily consist of taking symbolic potshots at federal government programs that the Republican party dislikes. It is not totally clear why she does this: sometimes… Continue reading The Impact of Fallin’s Medicaid Decision
How to means-test Social Security
I do not think we should make any modifications to Social Security benefits. Closing the small Social Security deficit would be trivially easy with tweaks on the revenue side, and there is just no reason not to do that. However, if we are actually going to make cuts to the program, why don’t we do… Continue reading How to means-test Social Security
Some thoughts on Newtown shooting
I’ve been reading some of the commentary on the recent mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. I am far from an expert on any of the related issues, but some of the commentary has stirred the following unrelated thoughts. First, much of the cross-country data being used to make arguments for or against gun control is… Continue reading Some thoughts on Newtown shooting