The persistence of poverty - Charles Karelis

In this important book, one of our boldest and most original thinkers charges that conventional explanations of poverty are mistaken, and that the anti-poverty policies built upon them are doomed to fail. Using science, history, fables, philosophical analysis, and common observation, Charles Karelis engages us and takes us to a deeper grasp of the link between consumption and satisfactionand from there to a new and persuasive explanation of what keeps poor people poor. Above all, he shows how this fresh perspective can reinspire the long-stalled campaign against poverty.

“This book is astonishingly lively. It ranges from the facts of life among the American underclass to deep philosophical puzzles about what does and does not count as 'rational' behavior, and will make economists, philosophers, and ordinary engaged citizens rethink just about everything they took for granted about the causes and cures of poverty.”—Alan Ryan, Professor of Politics, Oxford University