by the welfare state, some 16% of Americans are left living in poverty. it be better just to scrap the Wouldn’t a Basic Income Guarantee as a whole system and write the poor a check? In what follows, I will make the case for (BIG) replacement for the current welfare state. There are a number of distinct ways of arguing from libertarian premises to a BIG, some of which I have discussed in the past. In this essay, however, I will focus on what I take to be the strongest and most persuasive libertarian a BIG, is significantly better on libertarian argument. I will argue that even if it is not ideal from a libertarian perspective, grounds than our current welfare state, and has a much higher likelihood of being achieved in a world in which most people reject libertarian views.
by the welfare state, some 16% of Americans are left living in poverty. Wouldn’t it be better just to scrap the whole system and write the poor a check? In what follows, I will make the case for a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) as a replacement for the current welfare state. There are a number of distinct ways of arguing from libertarian premises to a BIG, some of which I have discussed in the past. In this essay, however, I will focus on what I take to be the strongest and most persuasive libertarian argument. I will argue that a BIG, even if it is not ideal from a libertarian perspective, is significantly better on libertarian grounds than our current welfare state, and has a much higher likelihood of being achieved in a world in which most people reject libertarian views.
Premier-Debate-Brief-MA18.docx