poverty and education

In case you're just tuning in, it's no secret that I think that education can only do so much. It is a myth that we are the farthest country behind in education in the world. It is a reality that we have a lot more people living in poverty than other countries, that we do a poor job supporting said population, and that it translates to their educational success (or lack thereof).

This article makes three points:

1.  Governments have the power to reduce poverty, and reduce it a lot.  European governments do far more towards this goal than does the US government.

2.  It’s unlikely that Americans poor people are twice as lazy or unskilled or dissolute as their European counterparts.  Individual factors may explain differences between individuals, but these explanations have little relevance for the problem of overall poverty.  The focus on individual qualities also has little use as a basis for policy.  European countries have fewer people living in poverty, but not because those countries exhort the poor to lead more virtuous lives and punish them for their improvident ways.  European countries have lower poverty rates because the governments provide money and services to those who need them.

3.  The amount of welfare governments provide does not appear to have a dampening effect on the overall economy.