SNAP Rolls: They’re Elevated for a Reason
So I’m driving into work the other day, and since 8-10 hours of this stuff isn’t enough for me, I’m listening to wonk radio where this guy is going on about the SNAP, or Food Stamps, program. He’s a knowledgeable guy making a lot of sense, until he goes off and says something to the [...]
Slides from Tonight’s Presentation
Spoke to the very cool and progressive NYC chapter of NASW tonight in the big city. In fact, here’s me and the renowned musician Victor Lesser at Vinnie’s Clam Bar in Little Italy…if you can take the heat, the shrimp with spicy tomato sauce is as good as it gets. Oh, and here are the [...]
Passing Some Real Time with Bill Maher
Had great fun on the Bill Maher show last night with the wonderful Rachel Maddow and reasonable Republican former Congressman Tom Davis. Bill is a true force of nature. Henceforth, I will not be able to refer to our over-stacked defense complex without envisioning “big fake …!” I thought Rachel made really piercing points about [...]
Today’s Chin Music, Movement #1: Investing in Kids
I played a symphony of chin music today, in two movements. First, here’s a talk I gave this AM on investing in kids for the Washington Post Summit on Children and Families. And here are the slides. Here’s one figure I stressed in the talk, showing some sort of good news: the safety net caught [...]
2012 Look Back: Economic Beliefs that Have Served Us Poorly
Well…in honor of the fact that the world did not end on Friday, how’s about one of those renowned OTE end-of-the-year features? I’m compiling another CBPPs-greatest-graphs post, but as I’ve been writing something on economics education, I stumbled on a number of economic precepts that have taken a hit over the past year. Budget Deficits [...]
It’s Hard for People to Believe it When Government Gets it Right
I’ll have more to say about this broader theme in coming days, but I’ve been talking to tons of people from all walks of life in recent weeks about the fiscal cliff and, more generally, the stuff the federal government is doing for better or worse. And while this is a “convenience sample” and not a [...]
Progressives and the Cliff
[Just did a spot on this with Chris Matthews and Joan Walsh--both of whom I thought made a lot of sense on the issue..] I’m glad that fiscal cliff negotiations have produced some mellifluous sounds from hardliners, as in Rep Boehner and Sen McConnell recognizing the need for new revenues in the deal. But really, [...]
Pesky Uncles, Brothers-in-Law, Etc…Thanksgiving 2012 Edition
Ahh, Thanksgiving…the turkey, the trimmings, the pies, the family…including those brothers-in-law, uncles, and other friendly antagonists who sputter out worn out arguments along with bits of corn-bread stuffing. So, in the holiday spirit, let us pray prep for the expected onslaught. [Updates: Since we're-in-this-together, I've pasted in some tasty side dishes from comments about shenanigans [...]
Without Work, Work-Based Welfare Does Not Fare Well
This may seem only obliquely related to the political hurly-burly of the moment, but I think it’s connected. The figure below, from Danilo Trisi at CBPP, shows the employment rates (share of the population at work in the paid labor market) of three categories of women: married and never-married moms, and single women without kids. [...]
Me, Chuck, and Poverty Policy
I recently debated the eminent social policy scholar and critic Charles Murray out at the University of Michigan. The event was organized by the great U of Mich poverty scholar Sheldon Danziger and it took off from the 50-year anniversary of Michael Harrington’s book The Other America. Clarence Page gets extra points for his light [...]
Policy Matters! Today’s Income, Poverty, and Insurance Coverage Data
According to new Census Bureau data released today, poverty rates as officially measured did not rise as expected last year and more people were covered by health insurance. Middle class incomes fell significantly, however, and inequality increased. Basically, the message here is policy matters. Where policy addressed a market failure—rising shares of the uninsured; poor [...]
Housekeeping…Debate…Census Poverty and Income Release
First, as President Clinton would say, “pay attention to this part right here…” THE OTE BLOG WILL BE DOWN TONIGHT FROM 10PM-2AM. Something about server migration. Second, light posting today as I’m on the road for a rousing debate with Charles Murray at the Univ of MI–I’ll be sure to post a link to a [...]
International Poverty Comparisons: What Do They Tell Us about Causes?
I’m thinking about the causes of poverty for an upcoming debate and in that context I often reflect on this chart. The American debate on the causes of poverty places significant weight on the behavior of the poor, behavior that’s juiced up—in a bad way—by safety net programs. For example, the argument goes, anti-poverty programs [...]
Poverty and Policy in the NYT Magazine
Just read this great piece on poverty and policy, forthcoming in this weekend’s NYT magazine. It’s worth the read, but I wanted to hit some highlights. I found the key points to be: –President Obama has done a lot more for low-income families than most people realize, largely through Recovery Act programs. –At the same [...]
Ryan and the Poor: YOYO vs. WITT
Note this excerpt from an NYT editorial this AM on the impact of Ryan’s budget on vulnerable families: More than three-fifths of the cuts proposed by Mr. Ryan…come from programs for low-income Americans. That means billions of dollars lost for job training for the displaced, Pell grants for students and food stamps for the hungry. [...]
Wading Into the Welfare Dust-Up
Over at MSNBC: http://leanforward.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/10/13217168-jared-bernstein-if-we-were-really-debating-welfare-to-work-wed-be-talking-about-jobs?lite What we should be talking about are…jobs. What we are talking about is…jeez…beats me…
Food Stamps, Poverty, and the Budget
Took a run with the great Diane Rehm this afternoon, listening to her show on food stamps, or SNAP as it’s now called (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program). I thought it was a good discussion, and particularly appreciated the input of Jim Weill, a longtime anti-hunger warrior (and old pal). I thought he wielded a powerful combination [...]
High Poverty Rates and Market Failure
The AP is out with an interesting piece predicting higher poverty rates last year. I know—sounds weird to be predicting a variable from 2011, but that’s how this works. It takes the Census Bureau time to collect and process the data on family incomes which are then compared to poverty thresholds based on family size, [...]
Scattershots from the Road
Quick road trip in progress so just a few scattered impressions from the hotel room, and pre-coffee so I can’t be held accountable. Econowatch: Yesterday’s retail sales numbers were a concern because there’s a negative trend there — see figure — over the last quarter (April, May, June) which corresponds to the slower growth in [...]
Against the Tide: Offsetting Income Losses in the Great Recession
New CBO data reveal some quite powerful tax and transfer effects offsetting the income losses from the Great Recession. The data so far go only through 2009, but they provide a heretofore unseen look at the effectiveness of the tax and transfer system at a time of severe economic stress. Each figure below shows the [...]
Half a Century of Poverty In America
It’s popular in conservative circles to quip, “We fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” Except it didn’t. Yes, poverty rates are still way too high, especially for kids and minorities, but when we fought, we made significant progress against the enemy: economic deprivation amidst plenty. And when we ceded the field, the enemy [...]
Larry Mishel and the Wage/Productivity Gap — LIVE!
Here’s me and the great labor economist Larry Mishel discussing some of his recent work on the gap between the real compensation of middle-wage workers and productivity growth. Understanding this issue has become central to the inequality debate and Larry — who’s also the president of the Economic Policy Institute — understands it deeply. One [...]
Testify!
That’s how I’ll be spending my morning, presenting this testimony to a House subcommittee. I’ll summarize later when and if I come up for air, but though obscure sounding, this is a really important topic–the impact of high marginal tax rates on the benefits of means-tested programs. Like I said, sounds obscure, but those who [...]
Jared Bernstein’s areas of expertise include federal and state economic and fiscal policies, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, international comparisons, and the analysis of financial and housing markets.
