News
NC median household income reaches $74K in 2024, according to Census
The official poverty rate in NC was 13% in 2024, essentially unchanged from 2023 and the 17th-highest rate among states.
Opinion
The tale of 2 North Carolinas
A kid growing up in Lumberton, North Carolina, should have the same opportunity as my kids do in the Triangle. The opportunity to be an entrepreneur. The opportunity to get a good education. The opportunity to rise.
Opinion
Which is wealthier: Germany or NC?
Among the European Union countries with lower GDPs per capita than North Carolina’s are Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Italy, and Spain.
Opinion
Family structure shapes economic outcomes
What’s the matter with kids today? What makes them such noisy, crazy, dirty, lazy loafers? You can talk and talk until your face is blue, but they still just do what they want to do. No, I’ve not suddenly become a clueless curmudgeon. But I could be auditioning to play one, since I’m quoting song...
Opinion
Liberate markets to help workers succeed
I have two favorite quotes from Ronald Reagan about the world of work. The first one illustrates his mastery of an indispensable political tool: self-deprecating humor. “It’s true hard work never killed anybody,” he quipped, “but I figure, why take the chance?” My other favorite Reagan quote makes a serious point: “I believe the best...
Opinion
Where are all the professional poverty protestors?
The ironic part of the poverty industry clamoring for more government is that the federal government itself is likely the biggest force against the poor.
Opinion
Inflation and harming the ‘least of these’
Not only are inflationary policies the most harmful to the poor, but there is too little attention given to their adverse effects.
Opinion
Throwing money at poverty doesn’t work
It is difficult to read arguments for or against policies when the premises are not aligned with the facts or the measures. In a recent piece published by our friends at NC Policy Watch, author Susan Demas, editor-in-chief of the Michigan Advance, attempts to persuade readers to adopt the belief that poverty can be eliminated...
Opinion
Exposing the faulty narrative upon which critical race theory is built
Racism in America is “ordinary, not aberrational” and “the usual way society does business,” according to critical race theorists. If this is true, how do they prove it? With critical race theory influencing how our children are taught and treated in schools, the answer to this question is vital. Merely asking for evidence or reasoned...
Opinion
What to do when they’re wrong
After hundreds of studies, it’s safe to say that most diversity training either produces no long-term benefits or actively damages workplace relationships.
Opinion
Missing the mark on race and poverty
While there are several things that can be said about UNC professor Gene Nichol’s article on critical race theory, there is one, in particular, I find intellectually dishonest: the descriptive claim that “in North Carolina twice as many blacks as whites live in poverty.” The issue with the assertion is that it is incorrect. In...
Opinion
Following the success sequence is a path away from poverty and crime
First, graduate. Second, maintain full-time employment. Third, if you’re going to have kids, wait until you’re married. If you follow those three steps in that order, you are following what has been coined the “success sequence.” People who have followed the success sequence are much likelier to escape poverty and end up in the middle...
