Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980 (Basic Books, 1984)

Charles Murray · c. 1984

Charles Murray did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Trying to provide more for the poor produced more poor instead

Their wordsWe tried to provide more for the poor and produced more poor instead.
Our reading
Removing barriers to escaping poverty inadvertently built a trap

Their wordsWe tried to remove the barriers to escape from poverty, and inadvertently built a trap.
Our reading
The new welfare rules made short-term behaviour that was destructive in the long term profitable for the poor

Their wordsThe first effect of the new rules was to make it profitable for the poor to behave in the short term in ways that were destructive in the long term.
Our reading
Any objective eligibility rule for a transfer program will irrationally exclude some people

Their wordsAny objective rule that defines eligibility for a social transfer program will irrationally exclude some persons.
Our reading
Any social transfer makes the condition that prompted it more worth being in

Their wordsAny social transfer increases the net value of being in the condition that prompted the transfer.

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An Essay on the Principle of Population Thomas Robert Malthus · c. 1798 1 claim worded alike
The Fable of the Bees; or, Private Vices, Public Benefits Bernard Mandeville · c. 1714–1733 1 claim worded alike
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith · 9 Mar 1776 1 claim worded alike

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