by Harvey E. Yates, Jr. A version of this was printed in the Espanola Rio Grande Sun, the Las Cruces Sun News, the Santa Fe New Mexican and was published on the Searchlite website. The number of people living in extreme poverty in the world has been markedly reduced in the last couple of decades. This wonderful result has arisen, in large part, from unleashing the entrepreneurial drive and the work ethic of millions of individuals by beefing-up their property rights, by lessening regulatory restraints, and by diminishing the legal insecurity which arises from political and regulatory capriciousness. As poverty declined in much of the world,  the well-being of millions of children improved. Though New Mexico has not known the depths of poverty suffered in much of the world, still, recently, when on the average poverty diminished and child well-being improved worldwide, the same did not happen in New Mexico.  Here poverty increased and child well-being seems to have declined. … [Read more...]