The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination, Ninth Edition
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
Dramatic changes have occurred in the landscape of poverty and discrimination since the last edition of this text was published. The landmark welfare reforms of 1996 (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act) became fully effective in 2001, when the legislated time limits on welfare eligibility first took hold. In those first five years of welfare reform welfare caseloads plunged. Some observers credit tougher eligibility conditions for the caseload decline; others point to the strong expansion of the U.S. economy in those same years. After the economy started slipping in spring 2001, the debate over cause and effect took on a more urgent tone. Would a slumping economy reverse the caseload declines of 1996-2001, or did welfare reform lay a more permanent foundation for financial independence? With both state and federal budgets strained by slumping revenues, the range of potential policy responses to an upsurge in welfare caseloads was severely limited. Aside from changes in welfare caseloads, there is the broader issue of changes in poverty. The poverty population didn't decline as dramatically as the nation's welfare population. Between 1996 and 2001, welfare caseloads fell by more than 50 percent as nearly 6 million people left welfare. During those same years, however, the poverty population declined by only 3.3 million, or by 20 percent. This suggests that welfare reduction isn't synonymous with poverty reduction. While most welfare leavers moved up the economic ladder, a good many others remained in or near poverty. The challenge for policy makers has been to extend more completely the success of welfare decline to the goal of poverty reduction. The financial and economic turbulence of the last decade has also sparked broad interest in issues of inequality. The rise and fall of the dot.coms, the surge and collapse of the stock market, the revelations of corporate malfeasance and executive largesse have all heightened awareness of how unequal incomes can be. With poverty on the (slow) decline, this heightened awareness has fostered more inquires into the nature and causes of inequality. These new inquires go beyond explanations for poverty to broader questions of how relative incomes are determined. This ninth edition responds to these questions by adding a new chapter (2) that examines the extent and permanency of inequalities in the United States arid other nations. Another highlight of this edition is the focus on the rapidly changing parameters of affirmative action. The California Civil Rights Initiative of 1996 started the current reversal of affirmative action. Since then, racial quotas have been jettisoned in favor of "race-conscious" policies that allow ethnicity to be one of many factors in hiring and admissions decisions. Even that much weaker form of affirmative action is under attack now. As this edition goes to press, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a challenge to the race-conscious admissions policy of the University of Michigan's law school. In the interim, many institutions are adopting broader, class-based preferences that favor minority groups without explicitly targeting them. MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH All of these changes more than just justify a fresh look at poverty, discrimination, and related topics. That is the purpose of this new edition. Once again, an effort has been made to incorporate the latest research findings from diverse disciplines, including economics, sociology, political science, gerontology, anthropology, law, and public health. Although my own training in economics gives a unique structure and perspective to the text, the discussion ranges far beyond the conventional boundaries of academic disciplines. This is particularly evident in expanded discussions of the urban underclass, the increasing feminization of poverty, the renewed IQ controversy, the behavioral constraints on welfare reform, and public attitude on poverty, race, and inequality. INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES In this ninth edition more attention is also paid to the international dimensions of poverty and discrimination. In Chapter 2, the degree of inequality in the United States is compared to inequalities in other nations. The changes in world (borderless) inequality during the last century and a half, are also examined. In Chapter 3, comparisons of U.S. poverty thresholds with the World Bank's standards of poverty are provided. LOGICAL ORGANIZATION Despite these many changes, the basic organization of the text remains the same. The logical progression moves from concepts of poverty and inequality to their measurement. Then the discussion moves into causation and, finally, to policy options. The central focus of the text continues to be on the phenomenon of poverty, with discrimination examined as a potential contributing cause. The text begins with a conceptual discussion of poverty and inequality, highlighting the differing views of causation. Three distinct causal perspectives are introduced in Chapter 1, namely Flawed Character, Restrictive Opportunity, and Big Brother. These competing "explanations" of poverty and inequality are referenced throughout the text in order to accentuate disparate views of why poverty persists and what role public policy should play. The new Chapter 2 focuses on the nature and dimensions of inequality. A unique feature of this chapter is the emphasis on income mobility, that is, the movement of individuals across different rungs of the economic ladder. This discussion highlights the critical distinction between equal status and equal opportunity. Chapter 3 tries to quantify the dimensions of poverty. The seemingly mundane task of counting the poor has become increasingly controversial, as evidenced by the National Academy of Science's 1995 report and the ensuing debate over poverty standards and census methods. Chapter 3 summarizes the key dimensions of this debate and emphasizes how our perceptions of poverty depend on the yardstick used. Data for 2001 are used to illustrate both the official poverty count and the impact of various adjustments. Chapters 4-11 address the major causes of poverty. Each chapter focuses on a cluster of related causes, drawing on a broad range of research. Points of controversy are emphasized and analyzed in the context of the best available evidence. The intent is not to advocate one point of view but to encourage critical thinking on central issues in the poverty debate. The more prominent policy options for eliminating poverty are examined in the final five chapters. Welfare reform gets a lot of attention, in keeping with the historic 1996 reforms. Chapter 13 is devoted to social insurance programs. In addition to Social Security and Unemployment Insurance, the chapter includes an extended description of child-support enforcement and assurance. In each case, the theoretical and historical foundations of the policy option are reviewed, with an eye toward assessing its antipoverty potential. The potential of employment and training policies to reduce poverty is examined in Chapter 14. The discussion of the Phillips curve trade-off has been moved from the Chapter 4 appendix to this chapter to emphasize its role as a policy constraint. The debate over whether economic growth creates "good" jobs or "bad" ones is also reviewed, as are a host of skill-training programs. The impact of the Earned Income Credit (EITC) on labor supply and on income gets a lot more space in this edition. The renewed debate over affirmative action is the central focus of Chapter 15. The discussion reviews the history and experience of equal opportunity initiatives in both employment and education. The inherent conflict between affirmative action and reverse discrimination is examined in the context of legal milestones and the California, Texas, and Michigan experiences. The ultimate objective of this book has not changed through nine editions. Its goal is to lay the foundations for a clearer understanding of poverty and discrimination and for a keener perspective on related public policy. Until we know why people are poor, or what kinds of programs are effective in combating poverty and discrimination, we cannot expect these problems to disappear. REFERENCE MATERIAL The theoretical and empirical foundation of the text has been strengthened with new data, new research studies, and an expanded bibliography. Scores of new citations are strewn across all the chapters. The bibliographies at the end of each chapter have been updated, as has the list of relevant web sites. This reference material will allow both instructors and students to update data and extend textbook discussions. I also recommend the "Opposing Viewpoints" and "At Issue" series from Greenhaven Press (San Diego, CA). The booklet-sized (50-100 page) readings cover a spectrum of topics including affirmative action, racism, welfare reform, homelessness, immigration, and many more. The "Opposing Viewpoints" contain very short but sharp contrasts on key policy issues that will spark class debates. WEB RESOURCES ([A HREF="http://www.prenhall.com/schiller"> www.prenhall.com/schiller ) Student and instructor resources were prepared by Steven Rock of Western Illinois University. Students can access web-based links and web exercises that keep the text material current. The Instructor's Manual for this edition offers a brief synopsis of each chapter, along with some ideas for teaching the material. In each chapter of the manual, a list of useful or interesting web sites is also included. A separate document provides homework exercises for each chapter with a set of true/false and discussion questions are provided at the end of the Instructor's Manual.
The publisher, Prentice Hall Business Publishing
This book was written to provide students with a broad overview of the dimensions of poverty and discrimination, the various explanations for these social ills, and the policy options for addressing them.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination, Ninth Edition
The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination, Ninth Edition,Bradley R. Schiller,Prentice Hall,0130385689,Business & Economics,Contemporary Economic Situations And Conditions,Discrimination,Economic Conditions,Economic assistance, Domestic,Economics - General,Poor,Poverty,Sociology,United States,Business & Economics / Economics / General
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