Aaron J. Howell
Jul 26, 2017 · 1 min read

The welfare state means lots of different things. Be more specific. It is not only the subsidization of low income or minority citizens. The welfare state operates to subsidize people at all levels of the income ladder. See the mortgage interest deduction today — essentially a government program providing a tax break to homeowners. Low income folks don’t receive this benefit as ownership is out of reach for most all of them. See Pell grants, middle class kids don’t get access to this welfare policy. Recent evidence suggests the mortgage interest deduction does nothing to boost homeownership rates, but certainly we’d probably all agree that Pell grants do help low income kids get college degrees. So, to bring this back to your comment, how does your characterization of the American welfare state tell us anything about ghetto formation? Specifically, what pieces of the welfare state are you referring to?

    Aaron J. Howell

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