How likely is it for you to encounter people who haven't been to the US?

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by geotag277

Two things.

1. It seems it would behoove us to consider worldwide poverty metrics, as the United States has been pretty instrumental and a central player in a massive transfer of wealth to developing countries, enabling them to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

What does that have to do with Trump, domestic tax cuts, or reduced government spending? In fact, a central tenet of Trump's platform was reduction in foreign aid/investment. And reduction in foreign aid/investment is typical consequence of tax cuts and reduced government spending.

Originally Posted by geotag277

2. By some metrics, poverty is at record lows - way down from the 1960s. As the article indicates, much of the credit is on the social safety net, and in particular the Child Tax Credit, which thankfully is going to be increased and expanded under Trump's tax reform.

Also important to point out that according to the graph referenced in the article, poverty increases during recessions and decreases during economic growth, a situation which lends itself to pursuing policies to expand economic growth, soften recessions, and make smart investments into the social safety net.

Income inequality doesn't really factor into any of this.

Well, the linked to article is discussing child poverty rates only. Its at best an incomplete measure of poverty in the United States.

And, I mean, how much should anyone really be celebrating that the United States has managed to reduce child poverty since 1967. I would fucking hope so.

Also, this excerpt from your article pretty much contradicts the point that you were trying to make:

That said, the near-halving of the child-poverty rate over the past half-century is not primarily due to improvements in the economy. In fact, stagnating wages, reduced bargaining power, automation, and offshoring have held down the earnings of families in the bottom of the income spectrum, and spiraling income inequality has meant that most of the gains of economic growth have gone to families at the top. Instead, it is the expansion of the safety net—in particular through the food-stamp program and provisions like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit—that has been most responsible for moving millions of kids above the poverty line over time, the researchers found.

The expansion of the economy alone has done little to push down the child-poverty rate. Not taking government benefits and tax policies into account, the rate has barely budged since the late 1960s, going from 27.4 percent in 1967 to 25.1 percent in 2016. But after accounting for government benefits and tax credits, it has dropped to its all-time low.