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This paper comments on the work of Rector et al. (1999a, 1999b). The poverty lines implicit in their restrictive material deprivation approach are disputed and the claim that America has triumphed over poverty is rejected. Evidence is presented showing that poverty among the poorest Americans has significantly increased and is now near an all time high. The long economic expansion since the recession of 1990-1991 has left hardcore poverty essentially unchanged and relative deprivation among the poorest of the poor has increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a quarter century of environmental regulation in this country, significant environmental threats remain. Why has the regulatory system failed to fully address our environmental problems? The goal of this paper is to suggest that the roots of environmental problems, and the failure of environmental regulation, are deeply embedded in the processes that generate economic growth. The logic of the argument to be presented will take the following form: long-run economic growth relies on the creation of new industries and new forms of economic activity; these new forms of economic activity create new kinds of environmental problems; these new forms of economic activity constitute vested political interests that oppose environmental regulation. Each of the three main sections of the paper will provide theoretical and empirical justification for each component part of the basic argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the international dispute over intellectual property in the U.S. The regulation of intellectual property possesses economic characteristics not found in tangible commodity property. It is readily divisible and transportable and can be easily appropriated by many parties. It plays a pivotal role in the development prospects of many countries which they cannot afford to be excluded from accessing it. The protection of intellectual property is to stimulate economic progress in various ways by providing an incentive for people to spend money on research and innovation, improving the quality of competition, enhancing an economy's prospects for growth and development and by providing new jobs through the continual dynamic transformation of the economic structure.

The article focuses on the relationship between social economics and feminism, and discusses its relevance to the future development of social economics by explicating the challenges feminism for social economics in the twenty-first century. The author offers a brief summary concerning the similarities between the various themes and principles of feminism and social economics, as well as discusses the evolution of social economics in the U.S. Furthermore, the feminists' challenges to social economics are also discussed.