The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America's Poor [Hardcover]

This book moves beyond the moribund left versus right debate on poverty to propose a new anti-poverty agenda based on individual empowerment, free-markets, and limited government.In a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom of both liberals and conservatives, Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, looks at the reasons for poverty in America and offers a detailed agenda for increasing wealth, incomes, and opportunity. The author argues that conservative critiques of a culture of poverty fail to account for the structural circumstances in which the poor live, especially racism, gender discrimination, and economic dislocation. However, he also criticizes liberal calls for fighting poverty through redistribution or new government programs. Too much of contemporary anti-poverty policy focuses on making poverty less miserable, and not enough on helping people get out of poverty and becoming self-sufficient. The Inclusive Economy calls for government to stop doing things that push people into poverty, and provides a detailed roadmap to a new anti-poverty policy that includes criminal justice reform, greater educational freedom, housing deregulation, banking reform, and both increased and more inclusive economic growth. The policies put forth in this title are designed to empower poor people and allow them to take control of their own lives.Preface 1. Introduction 2. A History of Thinking about Poverty and Policy 3. The Cultural or Individual Behavior Theory of Poverty 4. Structural Poverty: Race, Gender, and Economic Dislocation 5. The Limits of Redistribution 6. Fighting Poverty through Criminal Justice Reform 7. Improving Human Capital: The Importance of Education Freedom 8. Reducing the Cost of Housing through Deregulation 9. Savings and the Accumulation of Wealth 10. The Ultimate Answer: Inclusive Economic Growth 11. Looking AheadMichael Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute where he heads research into a variety of domeslĂB