The government provides billions of dollars in child care subsidies to help move welfare recipients into the work force. Here's the catch: To get the subsidies, people transitioning off welfare need to have a job already.
Public debate has been dominated by the belief that education builds human capital, causing increased income, health and political participation, among many positive outcomes. But new research suggests that costly expansions of education may not always bring the promised social results. In some cases, those expansions may do little but sort people according to their native ability.