""Poverty and Discrimination" provides a wide-ranging discussion of all the aspects of social policy that are related to economic disadvantage, from welfare programs to education to labor markets, with a particular emphasis on discrimination. The text provides an excellent overview of facts, of research results, and of policy debates. Interspersed in this discussion are many good lessons in data analysis and research methodology. This book is a great reference and review of many areas and will work as an excellent text for undergraduate and graduate-level courses on poverty, inequality, or discrimination."--Rebecca M. Blank, University of Michigan

"Kevin Lang's new textbook on poverty and discrimination is at once lucid, rigorous, and topical. He shows how the conceptual insights of modern economic theory can be combined with state-of-the-art statistical techniques in order to answer the questions, 'What do we know about poverty and how do we know it?' This elegant, learned, and highly accessible book will, I predict, exert a major and beneficial influence in the years ahead on the study of poverty and discrimination in the United States."--Glenn C. Loury, author of "The Anatomy of Racial Inequality"

"Kevin Lang is engaging and always thought-provoking, and he covers a lot of ground. I don't agree with him on all issues, but that is really the point of the book--to show that reasonable people can differ on some of the most important social issues of our day and then give students the tools to assess arguments critically and make their own decisions. This book is an excellent resource for any class on poverty issues."--Janet M. Currie, author of "The Invisible Safety Net: Protecting the Nation's Poor Children and Families"

"This volume will be an extraordinarily helpful tool for anyone teaching in the field of poverty and discrimination. It assembles the latest data, weaves it together with competing theories, and highlights the policy options and dilemmas that we struggle with in the United States. We have not had a textbook like this in decades and it will be a tremendous asset to students and faculty alike."--Katherine S. Newman, author of "Chutes and Ladders: Navigating the Low-Wage Labor Market"

"This book provides a theoretically grounded and empirically up-to-date review of both economic research and economic policies related to poverty and discrimination. It is a welcome contribution reflecting Kevin Lang's broad knowledge of both the massive academic literature and current policy debates."--Joshua D. Angrist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A samurai is bound by the code of bushido. A woman-hater prowls the streets in search of victims to torment. A young girl is sold to a brothel for a pittance. By a strange twist of fate, their lives are intertwined. Shuntaro was born a sociopath. His only pleasure is other people's suffering. When he manages to slide his way into power, it is only a matter of time before he clashes with honourable samurai. His appointment sends shockwaves throughout Japanese society, from his opulent castle to the bars and pleasure quarters of the cities and even up to the mountain villages where the ninja are training for the fight of their lives...