Addressing an issue of burning interest to every taxpayer, a Heritage Foundation scholar brings objective analysis to bear as he responds to the important—and provocative—question posed by his book's title. Of course, the answer to that question will also help determine whether the American public should fear budget cuts to federal social programs. Readers, says author David B. Muhlhausen, can rest easy. As his book decisively demonstrates, scientifically rigorous national studies almost unanimously find that the federal government fails to solve social problems. To prove his point, Muhlhausen reports on large-scale evaluations of social programs for children, families, and workers, some advocated by Democrats, some by Republicans. But it isn't just the results that matter. It's the lesson to readers on how Americans can—and should—accurately assess government programs that cost hundreds of billions of dollars each year. At the book's core is an insistence that we move beyond anecdotal reasoning and often-partisan opinion to measure the effectiveness of social programs using objective analysis and scientific methods. At the very least, the results of such analysis will, like this book, provide a sound basis for much-needed public debate.

A resource to understanding the complexities of welfare reform furnishing an even handed evaluation of welfare abolition schemes. The six essays excerpted from CRS Report analyze state welfare initiatives, jobs for welfare recipients, tax incentives to train or retrain the work force, work incentive

The labor market has changed dramatically in recent decades. In the 1980s an average of 2 million workers each year lost their jobs because of the increasingly global economy, rapid advances in technology, and corporate downsizing. During the same period, immigration increased and Congress passed welfare reform legislation that required many more Americans to join the workforce. Legislators have looked closely at federal job training programs in recent years, and in 1998 passed the two major acts mandating change. In Improving the Odds, experts on labor policy explore the effects of current programs on earnings and employment, recommend improvements in programs, and assess the methodologies used to measure their effectiveness. The editors offer several strategies to help policymakers design programs that fulfill the promise of keeping workers out of poverty. Contents: -Publicly Funded Training in a Changing Labour Market (Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King) -The Economic, Demographic, and Social Context of Future Employment and Training Programs (Frank Bennici, Steven Mangum, and A ndrew M. Sum) -Welfare Employment Programs: Impacts and Cost-Effectiveness of Employment and Training Activities (Lisa Plimpton and Demetra Smith Nightingale) -The Impact of Job Training Partnership Act Programs for Adult Welfare Recipients (Jodi Nudelman) -Training Success Stories for Adults and Out-of-School Youth: A Tale of Two States (Christopher T. King, with Jerome A. Olson, Leslie O. Lawson, Charles E. Trott, and John Baj) -Employment and Training Programs for Out-of-School Youth: Past Effects and Lessons for the Future (Robert I. Lerman) -Customized Training for Employers: Training People for Jobs That Exist and Employers Who Want to Hire Them (Kellie Isbell, John Trutko, and vBurt S. Barnow) -Training Programs for Dislocated Workers (Duane E. Leigh) -Methodologies for Determining the Effectiveness of Training Programs (Daniel Friedlander, David H. Greenberg, and Philip K. Robins) -Reflections on Training Policies and Programs (Garth L. Mangum) -Strategies for Improving the Odds (Burt S. Barnow and Christopher T. King).