Sunday, February 19, 2012

Guaranteed Income: Mungowitz is Called "Chopped Liver"

wow, Angus, that stings.

Your list of people who favor a guaranteed income (also called "basic income" or "negative income tax") includes "Herbert Simon, Freddy Hayek, Bob Solow AND Milton Friedman."

I would add at least two others:

Charles Murray.

Michael Munger.

I didn't make Angus' list, though. Chopped liver, am I.

The paper might interest readers. I go so far as to argue that basic income is a LIBERTARIAN solution, because it would be (a) cheaper and (b) more consistent with individual autonomy and freedom than the current dog-vomit-after-eating-a-crayon-box mish-mash of programs, transfers, and subsidies. The core of my argument is that such a "guaranteed income" program is NOT consistent with the "destination libertarians" who want zero government. But it is quite consistent with the "directional libertarians" who will accept Pareto improvements, provided those moves ALSO improve liberty.

Happy to send a PDF to anyone who wants to read more.... email me at munger AT duke DOT edu, and I'll be happy to send it out. You might be able to get to the original through other library connections, but I don't think BIS is on JSTOR.

1 comment:

Samuel Wilson said...

I'd like a copy, please. I'm also curious why it's not available on JSTOR.