The Poverty Trap

“Inflation has reached 40-year highs just as many vulnerable families are readjusting to life without a boost from government stimulus or protections to keep them from being evicted.” The Washington Post , July 3, 2022 I’ve written twice previously about inflation and its impact on the poor for Crime and Punishment : How Will Americans Keep a Roof Over Their Heads ; and a Crash Course on Inflation...

“Once you request service from a new company, your old company cannot refuse to port your number, even if you owe money for an outstanding balance or termination fee.” Federal Communications Commission A huge thank-you to Audrey Hood, Substack’s own reference librarian, for allowing me to guest post on her wonderful newsletter: The Civic Librarian. This post went live on her Substack just a few da...

“I have frequently amused myself both in public and private companies, with silently remarking the spacious errors of those who speak without reflecting.” Thomas Paine from Common Sense My guess is Thomas Paine is spinning in his grave as he reads social media and the myriad other sources where we get our information these days, and recognizes the millions of Americans who continue to “speak witho...

“In 42 states and DC, at least one predatory lender is using a rent-a-bank scheme to evade the law and make 100% to 225% APR loans that are illegal in those states.” Americans for Financial Reform When we roamed the earth as Neanderthals, our species worried about predators lurking at every turn, wanting to fatten themselves up at our expense. Today, the same dynamic exists, only now the predators...

Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.” Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, June 1947 Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg contributed to the 75th A...

“The mental health effects of poverty are wide ranging and reach across the lifespan.” Psychiatric Times, 2018. It has been difficult for me to think clearly this week, let alone write something of importance, that is not about the torrent of gun violence and death we’ve witnessed these last few weeks. (To clarify: we have not just “witnessed it”, many of us have given it the green light either by...

…In other words, inflation can provide businesses with pricing power and increase their profit margins. If profit margins are rising, it means the prices that companies charge for their products are increasing at a faster rate than increases in production costs. Investopedia, updated 12/2/21. Rising prices are on everyone’s mind right now. Even if you can buy and sell Manhattan, you’re worried tha...

In some ways, NEPA [the National Environmental Policy Act, January 1, 1970] may turn out to be the most influential of our environmental laws for it not only sets forth our basic national goals for environmental protection, but it also tells us that essential to achieving them is foresight. From the Council on Environmental Quality’s introduction to its tenth annual report, 1980. NEPA has turned o...

There are really two questions to ask about poverty: Whether individuals can pull themselves out of poverty in a system set up to punish the poor, not help them; and whether our entire country can greatly reduce or eliminate poverty through government action. I’ve been thinking about these issues lately because I’ve seen an overwhelming number of social media comments, and comments on opinion piec...

“It’s not just about money” “That brings us to the bigger issue. This is not really a debate about fiscal policy. It’s about whether higher education should be a commodity or a public service.” Maggie Astor, The New York Times, 2019 Our country has been debating for decades what to do about the rising cost of college tuition, enormous student loan debt, the size of government grants and loans for...

“It is the public that is being asked to assume the risks that the insect controllers calculate. The public must decide whether it wishes to continue on the present road, and it can do so only when in full possession of the facts… We still talk in terms of conquest. We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as only a tiny part of a vast and incredible universe. Man’s attitude tow...

“More people die by accident today than at any time in American history. The accidental death toll in the United States is now over 173,000 people a year……An accident injures ninety-two people every minute of the year and kills twenty every hour.” From the book: “There Are No Accidents. The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster—Who Profits and Who Pays the Price, by journalist, Jessie Singer The Unit...

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“Big wheels roll through fields Where sunlight streams Oh meet me in a land of hope and dreams” “Land of Hope and Dreams” , Bruce Springsteen Living in poverty in our country doesn’t have to look like this photo, although it certainly can, and in fact does, in many of our largest and wealthiest cities. It can be a single mother working a couple of low-wage jobs to pay for a too small apartment and...

“The average American has $52,940 worth of debt across mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, auto loans, credit card debt, student loan debt, and other debts like personal loans.” From the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Household Debt and Credit report, 2021 The joy of living debt free, or perhaps oblivious to debt. I lived for at least a decade oblivious to the debt I was accumulating....

It’s not good news for renters or potential home buyers right now. Statistics show that across the country in the last 12 months or so: — Rents have risen an average of 40% in some cities, and “According to an analysis conducted by RedFin, rents in the US jumped 14% in December 2021 to $1,877 a month, the largest rise in more than two years.” ; — The median home price in the United States, althoug...

Amazon announced the following in its most recent earnings report: “Amazon is raising the price of its annual Prime subscriptions from $119 to $139 per year in the United States, the company announced along with its earnings report Thursday. The price of a monthly subscription will also increase from $12.99 to $14.99.” And… “The company's profits also doubled during the December-end quarter, to $1...

“Should five percent appear too small Be thankful I don't take it all 'Cause I'm the taxman Yeah, I'm the taxman” Taxman”, George Harrison Enjoy The Beatles playing the full song here: Actually 5% is quite a bit more than Senator Elizabeth Warren originally proposed for a wealth tax on America’s richest: she thinks a 2% tax on all wealth over $50 million dollars per family is enough to fund a good...

I wrote this essay a few years ago, and as you can see, it eventually became the basis for this newsletter. I’m publishing it today, with just a few tweaks, because I’ve been off tending to my ailing dog (you’ll recognize his photo below as my crack research assistant for this newsletter), but also to remind my readers and me why I’m writing Crime and Punishment . This essay touches on many of the...

“I am now convinced that the simplest approach will prove to be the most effective — the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It isn’t just in January that we should celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., along with a three-day winter weekend and sales using his name in vain. Is it too much t...

“ ‘Humans are vastly more cooperative than most other species.’ Our cultural institutions can reinforce inequality, she said, but they can also fight against it.” Dr. Siobhán Mattison, evolutionary anthropologist at the University of New Mexico I always tend to resent the scientific research conducted on animals, not just the cruel, invasive kind which needs to end, but even basic cognitive resear...

Crime and Punishment: Why the Poor Stay Poor In America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. “From San Diego up to Maine, in every mine and mill, Where workers strike and organize it’s there you’ll find Joe Hill, it’s there you’ll find Joe Hill!” “Joe Hill”, Date: 1936 ; Composer : Earl Robinson ; Text: Alf...

“ So what happens? He gets the title shot in the ballpark. What do I get? A one-way ticket to Palookaville.” Terry Malloy, “On the Waterfront” Enjoy the full movie clip here: How can you not love this movie? A regular guy “takes a moral position against his own self-interest”…and wins. In this clip, Marlon Brando’s character, Terry Malloy, is lamenting his lost shot at the title and what he got in...

If I may beg your indulgence as the holiday looms… I decided to re-post (with audio this time), a popular piece from October of this year focusing on the Catch-22 of credit scores and the outsized role these made-up numbers have on our lives. I’ll bet many of you are finishing your holiday shopping with a whirlwind of credit card purchases. If you are one of the small percentage of people world-wi...

“Usury is the act of lending money at an interest rate that is considered unreasonably high or that is higher than the rate permitted by law . Usury first became common in England under King Henry VIII and originally pertained to charging any amount of interest on loaned funds. Over time it evolved to mean charging excess interest, but in some religions and parts of the world charging any interest...