In my last post, I wrote about how education reformers basically dodge the poverty question altogether. Here is a more technical way to think about that discussion. Thus far the entire education reform debate has been centered on arguing for and against this claim: poverty reduction is a necessary condition for improving educational achievement among… Continue reading Necessary and sufficient conditions for improving educational achievement of poor kids
Author: Matt Bruenig
The disgusting and depressing poverty dodge
Joe Nocera has a new piece out in the NY Times titled Addressing Poverty in Schools, outlining the work of Dr. Pamela Cantor, a psychiatrist. Cantor has come to realize what other research has shown already: poverty imposes significant stress on poor kids, and makes it difficult for them to do well in school. According… Continue reading The disgusting and depressing poverty dodge
The federal government should just borrow money and invest it
One of the most interesting ideas that comes out of Gar Alperovitz’s America Beyond Capitalism is using the government as an investor. The government already invests in infrastructure, education, and so on, but with the exception of pension funds, the government rarely invests directly into the stock market or other conventional investment vehicles. Alperovitz thinks… Continue reading The federal government should just borrow money and invest it
What causes teenage births?
Dylan Matthews reports on a massive release of child well-being data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Matthews provides this incredible graph of the correlation of childhood poverty rates and teen births: Childhood poverty explains 78 percent of teenage births. In addition to this finding, recall the study from a short time ago about the… Continue reading What causes teenage births?
Two fresh policy ideas to help underwater homeowners
The latest recession was primarily caused by the bursting of the housing bubble. During the rise of the housing bubble, home prices increased dramatically. When the bubble burst, home prices fell through the floor. This had a large number of really negative effects. Many homeowners who took out mortgages during the housing bubble wound up… Continue reading Two fresh policy ideas to help underwater homeowners