Chris Pope urges more targeted welfare, arguing government should fill unmet needs not displace private provision

Chris Pope, author of The American Way of Welfare, told an audience at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington that government should provide for ‘‘what people cannot provide for themselves’’ and that welfare policy should be narrowly targeted to unmet need.

Pope said policymakers should aim for accountability and clear measurement so that public spending fills gaps rather than displacing private activity. He described his argument as practical and incremental: ‘‘We can have accountability, we can have better measurement, and we can ultimately rely on the private sector where it can work,’’ he said. Host Kent Lassman framed the discussion around Lincoln’s maxim and asked where the line should be drawn.

Pope warned that broadly extended benefits can dilute resources for the most needy, using historical and contemporary examples to argue change should focus on well-targeted interventions rather than universal expansions. He emphasized counterfactual analysis and CBO-style scoring as tools to evaluate proposals and urged policymakers to pursue ‘‘a thousand little interventions’’ rather than one sweeping overhaul.