Mises Daily
Author:
Hal Snarr
Online Publish Date:
Since President Johnson first declared war on poverty in his 1964 State of the Union address, this war has cost US taxpayers $22 trillion . The primary implement of this war has and continues to be public assistance programs. Prior to the war, the poverty rate had fallen steadily from just under 35 percent in 1949 to just over 15 percent in 1965.