Michael R. Strain, Columnist

A Tax Credit Encourages Work. But What Is That Worth?

An experiment shows, predictably, that expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit brings marginalized populations into the workforce.

October 4, 2018 at 12:00 PM UTC

By Michael R. Strain

Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It).”

Which workers should get a tax break, and which should pay for that?
Source: Moment Mobile, via Getty Images

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Here’s an Econ 101 lesson: If you want less of something, tax it. If you want more of something, subsidize it.

Today many, including me, are concerned about the low rates at which people participate in the U.S. labor force. Basic economics suggests addressing that concern by subsidizing employment.