Down and out in paradise

The book examines the persistence of want in the wealthy United States, finding that keeping some citizens poor serves the interests of many

POVERTY, BY AMERICA 

Author: Matthew Desmond

Publisher: Crown

Pages: 284

Price: $28
 

Over the past decade or two, it has become fashionable to attribute major social ills to underlying “systemic” and “structural” causes. There seem to be several drivers of this tendency: The growing prominence of economists in public debates; the rise of the explanatory bloggers turned Substackers, who like to demonstrate their cool erudition by elevating intellectual arguments over moral ones; and the post-Ferguson racial awakening, with its emphasis on the deeply ingrained inequities that underlie present-day disparities.
 

The search for systemic and structural factors has much to recommend it in its attention