Be Fruitful & Multiply--Work Matters But Government Should Give Nothing A Chance: Let People Prosper Episode 54

In this Let People Prosper episode, let's discuss the news circling social media about the meaning of work and how government should influence it. 

I make the case that work is essential, as God commanded us to "be fruitful and multiply," but that doesn't mean the government should get involved. In fact, we satisfy our desires to have leisure and consume by working, so we should find something we are great at and develop a passion for it over time. If the government picks winners and losers, those opportunities will be fewer and we will all be poor in the process.

Per the valuable discussions about loneliness, tribalism, and work by U.S. Senator Ben Sasse in his book Them, Jonah Golberg in his book Suicide of the West, Oren Cass in his recent book Once and Future Worker, Arthur Brooks in his recent NYT op-ed, and Brad Wilcox in his recent WSJ op-ed (recommend reading them all), my recent commentary at the Institute for Family Studies builds on my recent research paper on how we can help heal our fractured society by limiting govt, not by expanding it. Texas has provided a relatively consistent model of limited government that has long-supported prosperity, which is supported by the most recent latest state-level jobs report. 

While there are attempts to increase the size and scope of government to reduce or eliminate social ills and encourage work, a major problem is a decline of strong inclusive institutions of the family and capitalism as extractive institutions of bureaucrats & socialism cut deep into the flesh. By strengthening inclusive institutions, civil society can heal and government can return to preserving liberty.

A suggested policy recommendation by others, like Cass, is to impose wage subsidies to increase worker pay while not decreasing the incentive for workers to not hire as many people at a higher wage. However, if the government incentivizes work that artificially distorts the marketplace, then there will be worse outcomes along the way.

Government should try a new approach: Give Nothing A Chance.

Too often government tries to do something when that action creates worse situations, such as with occupational licensing (see my latest paper on how occupational licensing keeps people poor here). In general, what we are dealing with is a battle between socialism (redistribution through government is a recipe for poverty) and capitalism (efficient allocation through voluntary exchange is a recipe for prosperity).

We would be wise to remember that there is "NO SUCH THING AS FREE STUFF," including: wage subsidies, earned income tax credits, welfare, college, health care, public schooling, printing money, government spending, debt, occupational licensing, govt pensions, vehicle safety inspections, zoning laws, forced annexation, regulations, minimum wage, etc.

By fundamentally reforming the failed policies of the past and today that has contributed to the poor situation for many people, we can begin to prosper again. This happens not by increasing the size and scope of government through more extractive institutions, but by properly upholding private property rights and limiting government to preserving liberty as inclusive institutions become the norm instead of the exception. 

We can do this so that there are more opportunities to #LetPeopleProsper