Matt speaks with Randy Hicks (CEO of the Georgia Center for Opportunity) about why jobs and social capital matter, how government programs can stabilize but often fail to help people escape poverty, and what reforms might better support work and self-sufficiency. They also discuss the benefits cliff, UBI, the role of civil society (including faith-based organizations), Utah’s “one door” model, and the minimum wage.

References

Alliance for Opportunity: https://allianceforopportunity.com/ 

The "One-Door Path": https://allianceforopportunity.com/focus/safety-nets/one-door-2/ 

“Benefits cliff”: https://freopp.org/whitepapers/fixing-the-broken-incentives-in-the-u-s-welfare-system/ 

Milton Friedman and the Negative Income Tax proposal: https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/NegativeIncomeTax.html 

Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs and the dignity/value of work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x17ip3ZwG0Q 

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Thanks to our patrons, including Kris Rondolo, Amy Willis, and Christopher McDonald.