The Rise of Poverty Inc.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared “unconditional war on poverty,” and since then, federal spending on anti-poverty initiatives has steadily ballooned. That spending has done a lot of good over the years—and yet no one would say that America has won the War on Poverty. I call these industries “Poverty Inc.” If anyone is winning the War on Poverty, it’s them. Today, the biggest operator is the Management & Training Corporation, a Utah-based company that runs 20 Job Corps centers nationwide. The Friends of Job Corps Congressional Caucus, organized by a lobbying organization for Job Corps contractors, has 80 members.