Do government benefits for the poor subsidize large employers?

Adam Ozimek has a very good post on that topic, here is one of his final bits:

…many of these programs, including Medicaid and food stamps, are means-tested. That means as you earn more the programs become less generous, and as a result can generate extremely high marginal tax rates for low-income workers. This will reduce labor supply and create the exact opposite effect that “corporate subsidy” critics claim.

Unfortunately, there is little basis to claim that most public assistance programs benefit employers. This is unfortunate because such subsidies would incentivize firms to hire more low-income workers.

Do read the whole thing.

Comments

Comments for this post are closed