Blog dare

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.