Did We Lose the War on Poverty?
基于收入的美国官方贫困统计显示贫困率在1973年达到最低，而基于消费的估计则表明贫困率持续下降至1989年，反贫困战争是成功的。本文建议用消费替代收入来更准确评估扶贫政策效果。
Official U.S. poverty statistics based on household income imply that the proportion of the U.S. population below the poverty level reached a minimum in 1973, giving rise to the widespread impression that the elimination of poverty is impossible. By contrast, poverty estimates based on household consumption have fallen through 1989 and imply that the war on poverty was a success. This paper recommends replacing income by consumption in official estimates of poverty in order to obtain a more accurate assessment of the impact of income support programs and economic growth on the level and distribution of economic well-being among households.