I dared Bryan Caplan, our resident non-bleeding heart libertarian, to blog today’s lunch conversation. The result is called Let Them Get Roommates. His best fact is:
[the] poorest 25% of Americans have more living space than the average European.
His bottom line is:
Before anyone starts collecting welfare, it is more than fair to ask them – for starters – to try to solve their own problem by taking on some roommates. Is it beneath their dignity to live like college students? I think not.
Addendum: Several of you have asked what is my point of view. I worry about the idea of a welfare bureaucracy "residency police." And the general cost of welfare — as opposed to broad-based entitelments such as Medicare — is relatively small. So I would not push the button on this one. I also would fear the symbolic connection to workhouses and the like.
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