In pushing back on an argument against Universal Basic Income (UBI) plans, Dylan Matthews engages in a curious non-sequitur. Let me point out where he’s wrong but offer him a more salient contradiction in my position. Matthews, in defending the idea that “every American gets a basic stipend from the government,” quotes me as follows:… Read more
Archive for the ‘Poverty’ Category
How big a deal is this political moment?
Over the past few days, I’ve published a couple of posts wherein I’ve tried to noodle over how we got to this moment in health care reform. Here, I’d like to add a few observations from that and other debates and ask whether there’s something important and potentially positive going on in the current political… Read more
A look at a few recent articles that caught our attention: immigration, SNAP, ACA repeal.
First, Eduardo Porter of the NYT wrote a controversial piece about the negative impacts of immigration (not Porter’s view–he’s reporting, not endorsing). I’ll have a lot more to say about the research in the piece, but to put it mildly, I’m unconvinced. The piece reports on research suggesting the increase in low-skill immigration has put… Read more
Strong job market, Obamacare helping to sharply lift low/middle-incomes and health coverage
I’ve got a longer piece out at WaPo, but let me highlight a few things here re the Census Bureau’s release this AM of poverty, income, and health coverage data for 2015. Though these data are for last year and thus don’t move markets, they’re important as they provide a rare, granular look at the… Read more
Poverty, median income, hth ins #’s for 2015 out tomorrow AM
Tomorrow the Census Bureau releases its annual report that allows us to drill down on how many different family types are doing in the current expansion. I’ve written up my expectations over at WaPo. As you see, I believe the combination of very low inflation last year and the tightening job market will have lowered… Read more