The economic theory that the poor lack incentives for improving their own conditions is a recurrent theme in articles that blame the welfare system’s generosity on the perpetuation of poverty. In a Cato Journal article, economists Gwartney and McCaleb argue that the years of the war on poverty actually increased poverty (adjusted for noncash transfers) among working age adults in spite of unprecedented increases in welfare expenditures. They conclude that “the application of simple economic theory” suggests that the problem lies in the war on poverty programs: