Robert J. Samuelson takes a closer look in Newsweek at the government’s recent release on household income and poverty figures.
Some of his analysis will please left-leaners (since they always enjoy bad news), but he also bursts some bubbles:
- Living standads aren’t stagnating.
- Hispanics account for almost the entire increase in families in poverty from 1995 to 2005.
And Samuelson shoots down some of the proposals offered for reducing income inequality:
[M]any familiar proposals would be mostly symbolic or hurtful. Raising the minimum wage might directly affect only about 5 percent of workers and might destroy some jobs. Protectionism might save a few well-paid jobs but would inflict higher prices on those least able to afford them.
Tar Heels will also notice his plug for a visit to Asheville’s Biltmore Estate.
