Progress against poverty requires measuring countries by the rule of law, judicial independence and free speech.

How to help the poor is a question central to American life, rooted deeply in our nation's Judeo-Christian heritage.

How out-of-pocket health spending added 10 million people to the ranks of the poor.

Without a robust recovery to trumpet, the president is betting his reelection on class warfare — focusing on “income inequality” and “fairness.” Class warfare is not a winning strategy, but it is the only card Obama has to play. That’s the good news for Republicans. The bad news is: Right now, the GOP is blowing it.

Consider an ambitious United Nations effort that, while not widely known in the U.S., has implications for developing world economic growth and for American taxpayers.

The U.S. economy has grown considerably over the past three decades. However, there is a prevailing sentiment that the middle class and the poor have been left behind. Our results show evidence of considerable improvement in material well-being for both the middle class and the poor over the past three decades.

Drawing on research from the world's most important economists, this volume tells a big picture story about the huge differences in the standard of living across time and across borders.

Adjusting poverty measures to account for the benefits of product improvements reveals that Americans in every income group are better off than they were twenty-five years ago.