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Taking the “G” Out of BIG: A Comparative Political Economy Perspective on Basic Income

In: Basic Income and the Free Market

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Boettke
  • Adam Martin

Abstract

Libertarians are surprisingly comfortable with basic income guarantees and related proposals. The classic statement is Milton Friedman’s “negative income tax” proposal from Capitalism and Freedom (1962). In Friedman’s scheme, individuals earning an income beneath a certain threshold receive the difference between their income and that threshold rather than paying taxes. A basic income guarantee (BIG) differs only in that it pays an amount equal to that threshold to everyone regardless of income up front, balancing the outlay through taxes afterwards. Charles Murray (2006, 2008) has defended it as a potential compromise between libertarians and liberals as a measure replacing the welfare state. Hayek (1960: 376), while lambasting proposals to engineer the overall pattern of income distribution, defends the idea of a minimum income floor, one of the primary aims of basic income advocates. And libertarian economists have long argued that, given some redistribution, simple cash transfers are preferable to the bureaucratic machinery necessary for rationing specific goods.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Boettke & Adam Martin, 2013. "Taking the “G” Out of BIG: A Comparative Political Economy Perspective on Basic Income," Exploring the Basic Income Guarantee, in: Guinevere Liberty Nell (ed.), Basic Income and the Free Market, chapter 0, pages 125-142, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:etbchp:978-1-137-31593-9_7
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137315939_7
    as

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