The rise of Poverty Inc.

For the better part of the past century, America has openly waged war on poverty. The results, however, may not speak for themselves. Though the federal government has spent billions of dollars on programs such as Medicaid, welfare, and food stamps, “no one would say that America has won,” Anne Kim writes in The Atlantic. “One reason: Most of the money doesn’t go directly to the people it’s supposed to be helping. It is instead funneled through an assortment of private-sector middlemen.”

In some ways, privatization, once seen as the way to efficiently carry out poverty-alleviation efforts, has diluted the potency of essential government programs. Government contractors, for example, give out food stamps and run state Medicaid programs. Because a contract essentially gives them a mini monopoly, they often have little incentive to innovate or improve how systems operate, Kim reports; she argues that their businesses depend on the poverty they ostensibly work to eliminate. And it’s a broader issue rippling across the country.

Today’s newsletter brings you stories about the corporate middlemen of a privatized America:

• “The Rise of Poverty Inc.,” by Anne Kim. How helping the poor became big business.
• “The War on Poverty Is Over. Rich People Won,” by Annie Lowrey. The sociologist Matthew Desmond believes that being poor is different in the U.S. than in other rich countries.
• “Fix America by Undoing Decades of Privatization,” by K. Sabeel Rahman. Investing in public infrastructure should be at the center of a 21st-century civil-rights agenda. (From 2020)
• “Privatization Is Changing America’s Relationship With Its Physical Stuff,” by Brian Alexander. Turning more and more infrastructure projects over to outside companies makes citizens more like customers. (From 2017)
• “Private Equity Has Its Eyes on the Child-Care Industry,” by Adam Harris. As states and the federal government pour money into early education, how will they keep a public good from becoming a private cash cow?

— Stephanie Bai, associate editor