<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_to_Choose" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Free to Choose</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the 1976 Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman.</a></p>

<p>You can hear the arguments directly from Friedman in this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3N2sNnGwa4&amp;list=PL4742023192B69941" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ten part video.</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-08T16:52:26.820Z
2019-03-08T16:52:26.820Z
H2ONaCl
<p>In informal discussions about public policy, I often hear the claim that the government should not intervene in a certain way, because the citizens know what is good for them better than the politicians. As an example, a discussion about a public housing program can proceed like this:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Supporter: The government should help the poor by giving them apartments for a low rent.</p>
  
  <p>Opposer: It is better to help the poor by just giving them cash. For a fixed government expense, giving cash is better than giving apartments, since the poor can use the cash  either for renting apartments or for buying other things that are more important for them.</p>
  
  <p>Supporter: But if you give them cash, they might waste all the money on alcohol or gambling and will remain homeless.</p>
  
  <p>Opposer: <strong>A citizen knows what's best for him/her better than the politicians</strong>. If a citizen decides that the best way to use the money is buying alcohol or gambling, then this provides the highest increase in utility, and thus it is the best way to help him/her.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There are many things to say about this claim, but here I do not ask whether this claim is correct or not - my question is: does such claim appear also in main-stream economic publications? For example, is such claim mentioned in a paper published in a respectable economics journal (in the context of public economics)? If not, is it mentioned in a blog-post by a respectable economist?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-07T21:39:57.557Z
It is mentioned in several textbooks.
BB King
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-07T21:41:01.280Z
@BBKing This is interesting. Could you give exact references?
Erel Segal-Halevi
<reference-request><public-economics>
"The citizens know their own utility functions better than the politicians"
Erel Segal-Halevi
# "The citizens know their own utility functions better than the politicians"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-07)

In informal discussions about public policy, I often hear the claim that the government should not intervene in a certain way, because the citizens know what is good for them better than the politicians. As an example, a discussion about a public housing program can proceed like this:

> Supporter: The government should help the poor by giving them apartments for a low rent.
>
> Opposer: It is better to help the poor by just giving them cash. For a fixed government expense, giving cash is better than giving apartments, since the poor can use the cash either for renting apartments or for buying other things that are more important for them.
>
> Supporter: But if you give them cash, they might waste all the money on alcohol or gambling and will remain homeless.
>
> Opposer: **A citizen knows what's best for him/her better than the politicians**. If a citizen decides that the best way to use the money is buying alcohol or gambling, then this provides the highest increase in utility, and thus it is the best way to help him/her.

There are many things to say about this claim, but here I do not ask whether this claim is correct or not - my question is: does such claim appear also in main-stream economic publications? For example, is such claim mentioned in a paper published in a respectable economics journal (in the context of public economics)? If not, is it mentioned in a blog-post by a respectable economist?

**Tags:** reference-request, public-economics

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is mentioned in several textbooks.  
> **username_0**: @BBKing This is interesting. Could you give exact references?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-03-08. Score: 2

[Free to Choose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_to_Choose) by [the 1976 Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman)

You can hear the arguments directly from Friedman in this [ten part video.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3N2sNnGwa4&list=PL4742023192B69941)


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