Heckman ROI Welfare War

By elevating Heckman-style human-capital ROI metrics, liberal policy circles reframe welfare from egalitarian income smoothing to 'investment' in early childhood and targeted programs, biasing evidence standards and funding against unconditional cash. — This framing determines which anti-poverty tools are deemed credible, how success is measured, and where scarce social dollars go—shaping long-run inequality and political coalitions.