[jmherbener]

Studies of poverty are notoriously shoddy. Cross-country studies are especially problematic. If you look at just the U.S., the poverty rate was declining until LBJ’s war on poverty. Take a look at the work at the Independent Institute:

http://www.independent.org/issues/google_results.asp?cx=018225991961863933630%3Awvyquibswjc&ie=UTF-8&cof=FORID%3A11&q=poverty

Charles Murray made this point in his book, Losing Ground.

Thomas Sowell has done some good work on poverty. Take a look at his book, Poverty, Wealth, and Politics:

http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Poverty-Politics-International-Perspective/dp/0465082939/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1437685010&sr=1-1&keywords=wealth+poverty+and+politics

Here Sowell points out that market reforms have lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in China in the last three decades:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-1_10_06_TS.html

Henry Hazlitt wrote an entire book on that point:

https://mises.org/library/conquest-poverty

Here is a Mises Institute wiki on poverty:

http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Poverty

Here’s a recent Mises Daily article:

https://mises.org/library/freedom-global-poverty-and-failure-foreign-aid

Another point is that private charity actually works to reduce poverty whereas government programs do not. Here is Michael Tanner:

http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/more-welfare-more-poverty

Marvin Olasky has written about this as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Tragedy-American-Compassion-Marvin-Olasky/dp/089526725X