“Subsidies”
“Zetland’s Rule for Subsidies”
As you know, nothing exists until an academic puts their name on it. /s
Thus, I reveal my creation — the ZRS!
The government should only provide subsidies that anyone can access if they meet the eligibility criteria. Examples:
- Education
- Health
- Living expenses if you’re poor
- Etc (please ask or add in the comments)
The ZRS thus excludes subsidies to race, gender, religion, profession, home ownership, car ownership, nationality (vs “all residents”), and so on.
The ZRS is similar to a universal basic income (UBI) but directed, in the same way as taxes on “bads” are directed against alcohol, smoking, carbon emissions, and so on.
The ZRS, like the UBI, thus avoids any version of most means testing: sick people don’t need to prove they are sick to get care; anyone can get a subsidized education (assuming they are eligible, in terms of their level of skills and knowledge).
Subsidies for living expenses for the poor are trickier than a UBI, since there’s some need to qualify those people. I’d prefer UBI, but there’s often opposition to “free money for everyone” and it’s not crazy difficult to effectively run programs like the earned income tax credit (EITC). OTOH, US Republicans are always trying to kill the EITC (and medicaid), so maybe it’s better to cut them out of the loop and go for UBI. Overall flows would increase (rich people would pay themselves, but still pay net), but more people would get help (they way they did with stimulus checks), unlike now, where bureaucratic barriers hinder aid.
Bottom line: End subsidies for special interests to make it easier to subsidize anyone and everyone who needs a hand when they are vulnerable. Those people will then be happy to politically and financially support “the system” when they are no longer vulnerable. Put differently, from each according to their means, to each according to their needs