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The question of how to help the poor get rich is, in essence, the question of how to help them build assets. Poverty is a trap because resources are needed to produce resources. Poor people must consume most of their incoming resources, so they cannot save much. With low savings, they do not produce enough to increase their income enough to break the cycle. To escape from poverty requires capital, be it human, physical, social, or financial. Many US policies subsidize asset accumulation (Sherraden, 1991), sometimes to combat poverty. For example, the most important asset of the poor is their human capital, and the most widespread asset-subsidy policy is public education. Deductions for mortgage interest subsidize home ownership, the bedrock of the middle class and the second-most important asset of the poor. Subsidized student loans (and public colleges and universities) and subsidized retirement accounts are other common asset subsidies that reduce poverty. The Homestead Act (Williams, this volume) and the GI Bill subsidized assets for many poor people. Most asset subsidies, however, go disproportionately to the non-poor because they directly or indirectly require wealth. For example, local-school finance places the best public schools in wealthy neighborhoods. Tax-advantaged retirement accounts link subsidies to the human capital required to reach a high tax bracket. Subsidized debt is indirectly linked to wealth because loans can finance only part of a purchase and because wealth signals creditworthiness. Tax breaks for asset accumulation (such as tax deferments for Individual Retirement Accounts and 401 (k) plans or …