Unbundle the Welfare State
I have a long article on the cover of the current National Review that they have been kind enough to make available online.
In it, I make several arguments: (1) there is an inherent tension between certain aspects of human nature and capitalism; (2) the welfare system exists, in part, to help manage this tension; (3) all major entitlement programs, when you look under the skin, have a common structure; (4) this structure generally bundles together features designed to achieve several separable goals; and (5) recognizing the facts of contemporary political eocnomy, we should unbundle and modernize these programs.
Note: “modernize” means “privatize”.
— talboito · Dec 13, 06:00 PM · #
The objection I’ve often seen from those on the left to unbundling SS in particular is that a lot of the political support for the program derives from its benefitting the middle class — if the safety net is separated from the enforced saving, then the former would be more politically vulnerable. Seems rather anti-democratic to me, but I suppose it’s reasonable to the extent that maintainting the safety net is one’s top priority.
— kenB · Dec 13, 11:18 PM · #
Welfare programs — as a complement and not antagonist to capitalism — make the most sense when this statement is false: “Individual conduct is the primary driver of contemporary deprivation.”
Individual conduct plays varying roles in determining social success against different metrics. For example, individual conduct plays a minor role determining whether a hurricane will flood your entire city and leave you stranded on your rooftop for a week. But it could play a major role in determining whether you wind up with lung cancer. Most of the time, unfortunately, it is a combination of both. That seems to be the burden of proof in disbanding (or front-loading) back-side welfare systems.
Healthcare is generally one where I would like to see more welfare front-loading (like giving everyone a HSA at birth with catastrophe insurance), because I think individual choice plays a more prominent role.
Education is by nature a front-end investment. In other words, new students definitely havent done anything wrong, its just a question of how can we best use available resources to maximize investment and productivity. Without question, individuals are more effective in allocating resources when they are incentivized to make good investments.
But what if you are born into a community where you do not have good education choices? Often, for children who end up in crumbling schools, individual conduct is not the primary driver of contemporary deprivation. Perhaps the market would eventually correct this imbalance and provide consistent education quality across every district, but until then, we lose a great deal of productivity (and create social unrest) by perpetuating a caste system that limits vertical mobility. I’m all for more curriculum flexibility and accountability, coupled with more competitive salaries for teachers, but I get nervous when people with more resources systematically get better educational opportunities. It’s always going to happen, but equal opportunity seems a worthy goal when structuring public education resources.
— Walker Frost · Dec 14, 07:55 AM · #
Jim:
I haven’t read the full article, just your post here. Reading your articles makes my head hurt. Not because I disagree with you (I usually don’t), but because your writing is so dense and builds so much on itself that I sometimes get lost. I will read it though. Promise.
So my question is, do you have anything to say to those of us who are skeptical that something like the welfare system can be fixed by any human being, no matter how smart? And I wonder if you could answer the question in view of Thomas Sowell’s thinking in The Vision of the Anointed.
— jd · Dec 14, 07:34 PM · #
Jim,
OT, but I can’t resist drawing your attention to this post by Robin Hanson, which seems right up your alley:
http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/12/let-gambling-save-science.html#comments
I’d love to get your thoughts.
— Jeff Singer · Dec 14, 10:19 PM · #