Preface: five policy fields and challenges.

• Author: Nagel, Stuart
• Position: Abstract

Abstract

This is a symposium dealing with public policy toward lessening poverty in the United States and in the world. The articles in this symposium recognize the importance of five policy fields in reducing poverty.

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Five Policy Fields

Economic Policy

Economic policy especially includes national income economics directed toward increasing national productivity and income through increased training, technology, competition, and free trade. The assumption is that increased national income will partly trickle down to the poor just as all boats rise with a rising tide. That is a partly false assumption since some poor people are unable to take advantage of the increased income opportunities. It may be necessary to have programs that are more specifically focused on the problems of the poor as one segment of the economy, rather than just focusing on the total economy.

An economics perspective is thus also concerned with how to move poor people out of welfare and/or poverty into meaningful jobs that they will not soon quit or be fired from and that can lead to even better jobs. That is the subject of the first article by Jonathon Jacobson on "Simulating Effects of Welfare Reforms."

Education Policy

Education policy in this context refers to lifetime learning from the cradle to the grave, especially job-related learning. Such learning is supplementing or even replacing the liberal idea of providing welfare from the cradle to the grave. That time period can be divided into three unequal segments of approximately equal importance.

The first segment is preschool socialization where little children learn such useful things as (1) getting along with other people, (2) the work ethic of keeping reasonably constructively busy, (3) learning new knowledge and developing new skills, (4) the importance of merit treatment, (5) freedom to disagree, (6) fair procedures when one is accused of wrong-doing, and (7) resolving disputes and controversies in a peaceful way, possibly in a win-win way.

The middle segment is from kindergarten through college. It is important for learning advanced reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is also a time for learning major or occupational specialty, but preferably on a reasonably high level of generality to increase flexibility.

The third segment is adult education from about age 20 to age 90. That time period requires a lot of continuing formal and informal education in order to keep up with changing technologies.

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