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
The causal ambiguity underlying the “you didn’t build that” controversy
For a week or so, the media has fixated on what I guess counts as an Obama gaffe. At a campaign stop, Obama said the following: If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system… Continue reading The causal ambiguity underlying the “you didn’t build that” controversy
Animation of transfers reducing poverty across 34 countries
Yesterday I posted about the effect of tax and transfer programs on poverty reduction across 34 OECD countries. Across the OECD, transfer programs play a massive role in reducing poverty, a bigger role than perhaps any other factor. I put together this animation to hopefully illustrate even more clearly the amount of poverty being reduced… Continue reading Animation of transfers reducing poverty across 34 countries
Countries eliminate poverty through tax and transfer programs
Relative to other countries, poverty in the United States is quite high. High poverty levels are a problem both for baseline fairness reasons, but also for a host of welfare-related reasons. Poor people are subjected to higher levels of stress, risk, economic insecurity, and food insecurity. Poor people generally have worse health, decreased access to… Continue reading Countries eliminate poverty through tax and transfer programs
US wealth mobility in one chart
Earlier I shared the Pew Economic Mobility Project’s latest findings on social mobility. The picture isn’t pretty. Kids born into the richest 20% are 10x more likely to wind up in the richest 20% as adults than kids born into the poorest 20%. Not surprisingly, the wealth mobility picture is just as bad: In many… Continue reading US wealth mobility in one chart