(The Federalist) — So many bad political ideas, so many novel and ingenious expansions of government power, seem to originate with people who are on the political right and supposed to favor small government.
Take Charles Murray, who I used to hear cited all the time—this was years ago, before the “Bell Curve” controversy—as a critic of the pathologies of the welfare state. These days, I hear about him most frequently (that is, when he isn’t being shouted down by campus fascists) when he is cited by people on the Left as an advocate of the universal basic income, a scheme for giving everyone a monthly check to maintain a lower-middle-class lifestyle without having to do anything at all. In other words, welfare writ large.
I know the so-called “libertarian” argument Murray made for the basic income. Giving money only under specific programs targeted for specific needs under carefully tailored rules—public housing, food stamps, etc.—creates a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of loopholes to be exploited by the unscrupulous, and a lot of perverse incentives of the kind Murray has previously documented. Wouldn’t it be simpler, cheaper, and more effective just to hand everyone money and let them decide for themselves how best to spend it?
