Often, it’s said that welfare states are dizzyingly complicated. So many programs! Impossible to rationalize! But this isn’t necessarily true. You can make welfare systems that are bizarrely complicated, but laying out a basic welfare framework doesn’t have to be a byzantine affair. Consider the following four-part framework that captures the vast majority of what… Continue reading A Basic Welfare Framework
Category: Policy
If You Want Really Low Poverty, Market Income Is Not Going To Get You There
I’ve been reading the recent EPI report from Elise Gould, Alyssa Davis, and Will Kimball titled “Broad-Based Wage Growth Is A Key Tool In The Fight Against Poverty.” The report shows, as you would expect, that if earners at the bottom had higher market incomes, then poverty would be somewhat lower as well. While there… Continue reading If You Want Really Low Poverty, Market Income Is Not Going To Get You There
Short Note on Norway’s Oil and Sovereign Wealth Fund
In my meanderings on the internet, I’ve run across some misconceptions about Norway’s oil and Sovereign Wealth Fund that I think are harmful to understanding Norway’s welfare success. So here are some things worth noting: Norway does not use its oil revenues to fund its state. Norway’s oil is under the control of the state-run… Continue reading Short Note on Norway’s Oil and Sovereign Wealth Fund
Frozen Darkness Is Depressing
Every so often, a major publication publishes an article about how everyone has the Nordic countries wrong and that they aren’t utopias. My favorite example of this is a 2005 article in the New York Times purporting to dispel the myth that Norwegians are rich and wealthy via the author’s anecdotes about such things as… Continue reading Frozen Darkness Is Depressing
Law professor argues protectionism for law professors definitely good
Paul Campso bio at Wikipedia: Paul F. Campos [sic] is a law professor, author and blogger on the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder in Boulder. This Campso fellow is really upset at a piece I wrote in which I argue that we should do what tons of other countries do and make it… Continue reading Law professor argues protectionism for law professors definitely good