by Rick Lowe

The Conquest of Poverty by Henry Hazlitt has been reprinted by the Ludwig von Mises Institute:

Here is what they had to say about it:

Long before Charles Murray took on the topic, Henry Hazlitt wrote an outstanding book on poverty that not only provided an empirical examination of the problem but also presented a rigorous theory for understanding the relationship between poverty and income growth.

He examines poverty in the ancient world, the poor laws of England, the advance of the middle class in the United States, the failure of welfare programs, the fallacies associated with income redistribution, and the relationship between population and poverty.

Its 20 chapters are outstanding essays that make for a well-integrated text on the topic, one which holds up as prophetic in every way, having foreshadowing welfare reform but also pointing the way toward even more radical reforms. The way out of poverty, he explains, is freedom, and freedom alone. 240 pages plus index.

Originally published in 1973, it makes for an interesting read.

From chapters on Defining Poverty with the help of Dr. Rose D. Friedman in her study on poverty to The Cure for Poverty, Mr. Hazlitt provides the answer for policy makers.

The question is, can poverty ever be eliminated completely? And I don’t think so. But Mr. Hazlitt gives us some guidance here too.

He writes:

THE THEME OF THIS BOOK IS THE CONQUEST OF POVERTY NOT ITS “abolition.” Poverty can be alleviated or reduced, and in the Western world in the last two centuries it has been almost miraculously alleviated and reduced; but poverty is ultimately individual, and individual poverty can no more be “abolished” than disease or death can be abolished.

Buy it online here… at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Read it on line here… [PDF] at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Interested in more books by Hazlitt? Click here…