Episode S2 | E5

Poverty in the Shadow of Plenty: The American Underclass

Air Date: Jun 25, 2017

About this episode

America is the richest nation in the world and in the history of the world. With just over four percent of the world’s population, the United States’ economy produces nearly twenty-five percent of world’s wealth. Every single American state, even the smaller and less affluent states, have larger economies than dozens of nations in the world. Yet, a sizeable portion of Americans, including about one in five American children, lives in officially defined poverty. What is the nature of poverty in America? What are its sources and what can be done about it?

About the guests

Michael Strain

Director of Economic Policy Studies and Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

Michael R. Strain is the John G. Searle Scholar and director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He oversees the Institute’s work in economic policy, financial markets, poverty studies, technology policy, energy economics, health care policy, and related areas. Before joining AEI, Dr. Strain worked in the Center...

Michelle Bernard

President and CEO, The Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy

Michelle D. Bernard is a lawyer, independent political analyst, pundit and opinion maker, social critic, author, columnist, public speaker, and president and CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy. An attorney by training, Michelle D. Bernard is a political and social justice journalist, pundit and opinion maker, social...

Elizabeth Kneebone

Senior Fellow - Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution

Elizabeth Kneebone is a nonresident senior fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and co-author of Confronting Suburban Poverty in America (Brookings Press, 2013). Kneebone has authored a number of Brookings reports, including “The Great Recession and Poverty in Metropolitan America,” “Job Sprawl Revisited: The Changing Geography of...

Elizabeth Hersh

Director, Office of Supportive Housing, City of Philadelphia

Liz Hersh, director of the Office of Homeless Services is dedicated to serving poor and marginalized people, with a focus on creating affordable, decent homes where families can flourish. In her 14 years as director, she built the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania into a national model of effective advocacy. She led the building of numerous...