D D wrote: > Hi all, > > I was wondering if anyone had read this and had any critical > comments...thanks in advance: > > The Limits of Policy DAVID BROOKS May 3, 2010 > > Roughly a century ago, many Swedes immigrated to America. > They’ve done very well here. Only about 6.7 percent of > Swedish-Americans live in poverty. Also a century ago, many > Swedes decided to remain in Sweden. They’ve done well there, > too. When two economists calculated Swedish poverty rates > according to the American standard, they found that 6.7 percent > of the Swedes in Sweden were living in poverty. > > In other words, you had two groups with similar historical > backgrounds living in entirely different political systems, and > the poverty outcomes were the same.... > > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/opinion/04brooks.html > >
The article states: It is very hard for policy makers to use money to directly alter these viewpoints. In her book, “What Money Can’t Buy,” Susan E. Mayer of the University of Chicago calculated what would happen if you could double the income of the poorest Americans. The results would be disappointingly small. Doubling parental income would barely reduce dropout rates of the children. It would have a small effect on reducing teen pregnancy. It would barely improve child outcomes overall. --- One review of this specious book points out: "She estimates that doubling parents' income, apparently from $15,000 a year to $30,000 a year, would do little to change their behavior toward their children." Well, who would expect that it would... _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
