Incentives Matter: Examining the Problematic Nature of Public Aid in the United States
Date
2016
Authors
Tuszynski, Meg Patrick
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In chapter 1, I argue that the institutional and constitutional context within which order emerges has a strong impact on the structure of that order. I examine the evolution of public-assistance policy in the United States to understand key dynamics of a perverse emergent order. Traditionally, studies of spontaneous social orders have not examined how order emerges within a framework that includes significant government actors (Hebert and Wagner 2013 is a notable exception). I argue that the public-assistance system as it exists in the United States is a perverse emergent order, with both public and private actors playing key roles in the creation of this system.
Description
Keywords
Economics, Austrian Economics, Emergent order, Polycentricity, Public aid, Public Choice, Redistribution