Michael W. Howard, “One solution could fight both global extreme poverty and climate change”

by Karl Widerquist | Feb 11, 2014 | Research

Michael Howard

[Michael W. Howard]

One partial solution to global extreme poverty could also help to mitigate the growing impacts of climate change: the development of a universal dividend funded by a universal carbon fee.

Michael W. Howard, “One solution could fight both global extreme poverty and climate change,” Bangor Daily News, February 5, 2014.

Andrew Coyne, “Raising minimum wage won’t help end poverty but giving the poor more money will”

by Josh Martin | Feb 11, 2014 | Research

[Josh Martin]

Coyne’s article largely serves as a critique of raising the minimum wage as a policy to combat poverty.  Debates over how high the minimum wage ought to be seem arbitrary, and Coyne argues that those in poverty face employment issues from a lack of hours, not wages.  Coyne classifies raising the minimum wage as trying to do “social justice on the cheap” and instead calls for efforts to enact a minimum income.

Andrew Coyne, “Raising minimum wage won’t help end poverty but giving the poor more money will,” National Post, January 27, 2014.

The minimum wage is particularly ineffective at fighting poverty, partly because few people in poverty are employed at any wage, Andrew Coyne writes. (Leah Hennel/Postmedia News/Files)

Matt Bruenig, “What People Mean When They Say Reducing Poverty Is Difficult”

by Karl Widerquist | Feb 10, 2014 | Research

Matt Bruenig, “What People Mean When They Say Reducing Poverty Is Difficult”, PolicyShop, January 10, 2014.

Policy Shop

William Watson, “Guaranteed income guarantees poverty”

by Josh Martin | Feb 4, 2014 | Research

[Josh Martin]

Watson voices his take on the guaranteed income by citing a recent study from Laval University that evaluated the labor market effects of multiple economic proposals such as a guarantee of 100% of Statistics Canada’s “Market-basket Measure” of low income.  Under this guaranteed income, this study suggests that labor market participation would significantly drop (22% for single men, 19% for single women) and that those in poverty would actually have less income than they do under the current welfare system.

William Watson, “Guaranteed income guarantees poverty,” Financial Post, January 24, 2014.

There are lots of other people who work at not very interesting jobs for not very much money. If the government guaranteed them an income, it’s possible they’d continue to grind away without change. But it’s also possible they’d at least think about cutting back on the drudgery of work and “consuming more leisure,” as we economists say. (Fotolia)