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Private Virtue and the State

A Methodological Individualist Perspective

North Carolina State University

There is no way to avoid or overcome the information and incentive problems that plague all attempts to legislate ethical rules. First, government redistribution inevitably involves coercion and is fundamentally different from charity. Second, the cost and benefits that influence individual choice are subjective, so it is not possible to base public policy on ethical rules. Third, income redistribution reduces wealth and weakens traditional communities. Private assistance may be more effective in helping the poor in the long run than the modern social welfare approach, in which compassion merely implies 'more public funding'.

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