Too much of contemporary anti-poverty policy focuses on making poverty less miserable, and not enough on helping people get out of poverty.

In his new book, The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America’s Poor (release date: December 7), Cato senior fellow Michael Tanner looks at the reasons for poverty in America and issues a bold challenge to the conventional wisdom of both liberals and conservatives.

According to Tanner, conservative critiques of a “culture of poverty” fail to account for the structural circumstances in which the poor live — especially racism, gender discrimination, and economic dislocation — while liberal calls for fighting poverty through redistribution or new government programs simply entrench those problems.

The Inclusive Economy calls for government to stop doing things that push people into poverty, and it provides a detailed road map to a new anti-poverty policy that includes criminal justice reform, greater educational freedom, housing deregulation, banking reform, and both increased and more inclusive economic growth

Tweet your questions with #CatoConnects, and join a live discussion of the structural forces keeping poor people poor and how we can instead empower the poor and allow them to take control of their own lives.