Of Course the Safety Net Redistributes Income…That’s Why It Works

My latest column:

Of Course the Safety Net Redistributes Income…That’s Why It Works: Many conservatives have attacked social insurance programs such as Social Security and Obamacare because they redistribute income from the rich to the poor, the young to the old, or from makers to takers. But there is nothing unusual about the fact that insurance programs redistribute income among participants. If they didn’t, it wouldn’t be insurance.

Consider, for example, a case you may not think of as insurance at first, risk pooling in financial markets. ...

[Traveling today, will post as I can.]