The Persistence of Poverty: The Right, the Wrong, and the Overstated (Part 6)

Now that I’ve sketched The Persistence of Poverty, how does it stand up?

The Right

1. Karelis blames persistent poverty on persistent poverty-inducing behavior: not working, not finishing school, not saving, abusing alcohol, committing non-lucrative crime.  While his evidence is a bit thin, almost everything else I’ve read on poverty confirms that such behavior (plus impulsive sex) is indeed one of poverty’s chief causes.

2. Karelis says that, contrary to standard economic theory, marginal u...