Automatic Stabilizer Fail
If you believe the US political system is incapable of handling counter-cyclical policy and that we need to rely on automatic stabilizers, this CBPP graph is depressing:
In other words, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (the result of the 1996 “welfare reform”), for whatever its other merits might be, has not been particularly sensitive to increases in poverty. As the number of needy families grew during the recession, the TANF rolls barely budged. More here.
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