Scandinavian Economic Trade-Offs Are Good

Fourth Argument: Something about poverty

Writer first claims it is not possible to compare poverty levels between the US and other countries because there are many definitions of “poverty”. He might as well have deleted this part (as you will see in a moment), but this is amusing, because he had no problem making use of actual bullshit rankings like “business freedom” and “fiscal freedom” when he was busy shooting himself in the foot in his first argument above.

It’s easy to tell he couldn’t find anything in the literature supporting his preferred result, not even at his favourite linkees like Heritage and Cato, so the best he can do is gesture and mumble about how confusing it all is.

Possibly knowing this is a silly argument, he then completely concedes the point by allowing that Scandinavian countries do have lower levels of poverty, but then asserts that it is not because of “taxes” (by which I assume he means welfare). In support of this causal claim he brings up these points:

• “We spent 7 trillion dollars on the War on Poverty” — A common trope, but a silly way of talking about US welfare programs especially given the fact that those programs have been smashingly successful and cutting them has only ever increased poverty levels.
• Displays a chart showing that poverty levels spiked after Welfare Reform and the Great Recession — yes, this is why reducing transfer incomes to the poor was bad