Poverty in America • Europe’s economic woes • Taxes in Japan and India • Corbyn breaks a record
FIFTY-FIVE YEARS since Lyndon Johnson, stooping on a porch in Inez, Martin County, Kentucky, declared a “national war on poverty”, America remains an outlier in international comparisons. When assessed on poverty—the share of families making less than 50% of the national median income after taxes and transfers—it is among the worst-performing in the OECD club of mostly rich countries. A special report in The Economist this week asks how one of the richest countries in the world can have so many poor people, and asks what can be done about it.
A survey this week revealed the extent of Germany’s economic angst. The purchasing-managers’ index, which gauges manufacturing activity, showed the sharpest decline since 2009. Many of Germany’s problems stem from supply disruptions at home. But Europe has suffered collateral damage in the trade war between America and China. So, with its largest economy languishing, and fears that trade headwinds might strengthen, economists are also lowering expectations for growth in the euro zone as a whole.
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