Author: Matt Bruenig

Transfer Programs and Black Poverty

A person is in poverty whenever the following is true of their income situation: (Market Income + Transfer Income – Taxes) < Poverty Threshold Thus, there are three ways to lift someone out of poverty: Increase their market income. Increase their transfer income Reduce their taxes. Given that the poor do not pay much tax… Continue reading Transfer Programs and Black Poverty

More Notes on Reparations

I wrote a post last week about the political valence of reparations. In it, I discussed the ways in which reparations fits into different philosophies of political economy. I am not going to rehash that piece here, but I recommend you read it before pushing on below. Here, I want to add a few other… Continue reading More Notes on Reparations

How To Use Single Payer Healthcare As Trojan Horse For A Good Welfare State

Currently, total health expenditures in the US make up around 17% of GDP. The average for the OECD is 9.3%. Around half of our healthcare spending is public while the other half is private. Thus, very roughly speaking, to shift all of the current healthcare expenditures onto the public health insurance, you’d need initially to… Continue reading How To Use Single Payer Healthcare As Trojan Horse For A Good Welfare State

Counterfactual Identity Swap

My favorite genre of takes is the Counterfactual Identity Swap (CIS). The way the CIS works is you take an event in the news and you speculate on what the event would be like if the identity of the actors involved were different. Unsurprisingly, the CIS always proves that the take-maker is correct about whatever… Continue reading Counterfactual Identity Swap