Giving the Poor More Money: Would They be Able to Cope?

Not a Portfolio.com Insider?

In This Issue of Condé Nast Portfolio

Home > Views > Blogs > Market Movers > Giving the Poor More Money: Would They be Able to Cope?

Your Name

Your Email Address *
Send a copy to me

Recipient's Email Address *

Separate multiple email addresses (max 20) with commas.

Subject *

Message

0/1500

Email Confirmation

Market Movers

by Ryan Avent

Main

Whatever Happened to Citicorp? Extra Credit, Wednesday Edition

Jan 15 2008 6:04PM EST

Greg Mankiw reacts today to the CBO's declaration that if you want fiscal stimulus, a temporary increase in food stamp benefits would provide the most bang for the buck.

I wonder if we really want to target such cyclical measures on the poorest members of society. That is, for any mean level of food stamps, wouldn't the poor be better off with a constant stream of benefits than with a benefit that fluctuates over the business cycle? Using food stamps as a cyclical tool seems to risk destabilizing some families' food consumption in an attempt to stabilize the overall business cycle.

I'm sure that if Harvard offered Greg Mankiw a temporary increase in his salary, he wouldn't demur on the grounds that he'd prefer a constant stream of payments to one which fluctuates. But maybe Mankiw is sophisticated enough to cope with such income volatility, unlike those poor people on food stamps.

See more in

fiscal and monetary policy

Add Your Comment

Already a Portfolio.com Insider? Sign In

Comments*

Thank you for registering as a Portfolio.com Insider. Your comment has been added.

Create Your Public Profile

Recent Blog Posts

The Times' Rorshach Geithner Story
Apr 27 2009 9:26AM EDT
Sinking Animal Spirits
Apr 27 2009 8:45AM EDT
Counter-cyclical Urban Policy
Apr 26 2009 10:00AM EDT
Be Your Own Counterfeiter
Apr 26 2009 9:36AM EDT
Being Tim Geithner
Apr 25 2009 12:37PM EDT
Notes From a Press Conference Naif
Apr 25 2009 9:41AM EDT
What Good is the News?
Apr 25 2009 8:32AM EDT
Stressful Enough
Apr 24 2009 2:29PM EDT
Not Regretting the Pound
Apr 24 2009 1:09PM EDT
Introducing the New Ford Squeeze
Apr 24 2009 9:47AM EDT
Non-Economic Questions of the Day
Apr 24 2009 9:12AM EDT
The Stress Test Blind Alley
Apr 24 2009 8:36AM EDT
Happy Hour
Apr 23 2009 9:40PM EDT
Recovery Without Rebalancing
Apr 23 2009 6:13PM EDT
The Shape of Your Recession
Apr 23 2009 5:11PM EDT

Links

Also in Portfolio.com

Visit our partner sites

Subscribe to a magazine:

Visit our sister sites:

Quotes delayed 15 minutes for NASDAQ. 20 minutes for NYSE and AMEX. Market Data provided by Interactive Data. Terms & Conditions. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. Company fundamental data provided by Hemscott. Economic data provided by Econoday. News provided by Comtex. Sec Filings data provided by Edgars. The Wall Street Horizon National Consumer Interest Rate Survey. ©2009 Wall Street Horizon. PMMS Mortgage Data ©2009 Freddie Mac. Mortgage averages are for conforming mortgages with 20% down.